IchaIcha: Battlefield
by FrogHermitJiraiya
Summary: AU. Continuation of IchaIcha: Love Story. Chapter 13 up! Since her affliction with the Gaia curse seal, Kotori has struggled not to let it dominate her. Now engaged in a brutal fight with Sasuke, will she finally sacrifice her freedom to gain more power?
1. Prologue: What Really Happened

**Prologue**

_"What Really Happened"_

_Readers of the previous entry in this series (see "IchaIcha: Love Story") will be familiar with this setting. Kotori, a female in her early thirties, slumps at the low table next to Jiraiya and glares down at the stack of loose manuscript pages in front of her. The faces of both bear the trademark flush of the alcoholically overindulgent, and they are currently arguing quite loudly over the contents of the pages._

**Kotori.** I told you, that's not the way it happened! I was there, I should know!

**Jiraiya. **Fine, fine, no orgy scene… for now. Tell me, my muse of persistent factuality, is there anything else that should be changed before I send this back to the publisher?

**Kotori. **That happy-sappy-togetherness crap right at the very end. I didn't have time to make any corny speeches, and you _know_ I don't say stuff like that! _(stabs a finger down at the offending passage)_ "I go now to be your eyes and ears in the dark and silent places"? What kind of sentimental bullshit is that? _(pours another cupful of sake from one of the many flasks on the table and empties it in one swallow)_ More like my foot up your ass if you don't take that out.

**Jiraiya.**_(grumbling)_ So much for artistic license. Anything else?

**Kotori. ** One last thing. _(fumbles through the loose papers until she finds what she's looking for)_ This! I know for sure that there was no guy-on-guy action between Tai and the mullet-boy. If there had been, the Cat would have played it back for me… in detail. _(mutters in addition)_ Not that I would have minded though.

_(This statement earns a devious eyebrow raise and sidelong grin from Jiraiya.)_

**Jiraiya.** I never would have guessed you liked that kind of thing. Someone's a dirty girl, aren't they?

**Kotori. **Took you that long to figure it out, huh? That scene comes out, but I get a printout _(delicate cough)_ for my own uses. Other than that, I got nothin'.

**Jiraiya. **Good enough. Might I propose a toast to our successful business partnership?

_(Kotori refills two cups and hands one back to Jiraiya.)_

**Kotori. **I'll drink to that.

**Jiraiya.** _Kampai!_

_(Both empty their cups, but only Kotori sets hers back on the table after draining it. The massive amounts of alcohol consumed that evening have gotten the better of the older man and he collapses unconscious to the floor, mumbling happily before going completely slack. Kotori sighs and takes the cup from his loose fingers, setting it on the table next to hers and leaning down to give him a gentle kiss on the cheek.)_

**Kotori.** _Kampai,_ you old pervert. Now I can tell these people how it _really_ happened.

_(With a fiendish smirk she sets to work on the final page in the pile, viciously crossing out some items and adding others. After about an hour of this she too falls prey to the effects of excessive alcohol and falls backwards in a dead faint. Fifteen minutes pass with no noticeable action until a third voice is heard from off-camera.)_

**Taiki. **Hey Tori-chan, I was told I could find you holed up in here and –

_(Taiki walks into view and stands for a moment surveying the scene, shaking his head with a rueful smile.)_

**Taiki. **Well, I see I have nothing to worry about for now. Let's see what you've got before I run this back to the publisher's… _(seats himself at the table and gathers up the papers, face growing ashen as he begins to read)_ Oh my. Maybe letting you two edit this wasn't such a great idea after all. This isn't what happened…

_(Taiki clears his throat and reads aloud, his expression sliding through a range of emotions from disgust to disbelief to outright amusement.)_

**Taiki. **"We really had you going there for a while now didn't we? Well, relax – things really weren't as depressing as you thought they were going to be. Here's a preview of what really happened in the time following 'IchaIcha: Love Story'…

"Kotori, having served both good and evil, grew tired of it all and decided to follow her own path. After severing ties with Hidden Sound, she swore a vow of chastity and retreated to the mountains where she formed her own sect of ascetic warrior nuns.

"Taiki didn't become Raikage after all, but he did marry Hinata and went on to found his own successful line of hair and body care products for men. He and his lovely  
wife have ten children and spend time equally between Leaf and Cloud.

"Naeko finally snapped and now leads a peacefully medicated life under the care of Naruto… who, for whatever it's worth, did go on to become the Sixth Hokage of  
Konoha.

"Takeshi has retired from the playing field after finding the love of his life in Ayame, the waitress at Ichiraku Ramen. He now spends his days teaching the occasional  
class at the Academy and is currently working on the third installation in what is considered to be the authoritative series of relationship self-help books: 'It Isn't Over Until You Say It's Over, or Until She Poisons Your Tea'.

"And let's not forget about our dear Sasuke. Last but not least, he's given up on the revenge business and has ventured into something more lucrative and just as fulfilling. He's now the owner of an artsy coffee shop where he can occasionally even now be seen on Open Mic Night, reading a selection from his dankly depressing yet wildly popular book of emotionally oversaturated poetry and providing inspiration for many future generations of antiheroes."

_(Taiki sits back with a sigh as he considers what has been done to the manuscript. After some time he takes an ink pen out of his jacket and begins to make revisions of his own.)_

**Taiki. **Humorous as that may have been to either of you, that's hardly the truth. Now let's see what _really_ happened…


	2. Revelations and Affirmations

**1 Revelations and Affirmations…**  
_…and Things Best Left Unsaid_

"This hasn't been the best month for our village, I'll say that much," grumbled Kurogata Satoshi as he folded his newspaper and set it aside. "Two missing-nin and another gone loose in the brain… Sound may have lost the battle, but it's winning a war of attrition." He made a dispirited noise under his breath and glanced over at his former pupil, who had taken the paper and now looked at it with an expression that was hard to place. "Not to mention this isn't the best of news for you – one of the missing was your student, and so was the crazy one."

The eldest surviving member of the Yamataki clan shoved the newspaper away from him, his face now openly molding into a scowl. "I was right about her from the beginning, sensei. How could I have not seen this coming?"

"Because you're more like your older brother than you'd care to admit, Takeshi. Katsuo always liked to say that a person was innocent until proven otherwise." Satoshi let out a musing sigh, looking out the window as he turned an idea over in his mind. "And, much as I hate to say this, I think there's more to this situation than meets the eye. I'm going to have to wait this one out before I cast my judgment."

"But how can you say that!" protested Takeshi, slamming his fist down on the tabletop in frustration at his mentor's seeming calm. "She's deserted everything I worked so hard to teach her – the village she shed blood for and almost died protecting – and done something so terrible that her closest friend won't even talk about. What isn't there to see?"

Satoshi frowned slightly at this display of unchecked anger and shook his head once in silent chastisement. "Sometimes the most important lessons aren't ones anyone else can teach you. You'd see where I'm coming from if you'd just calm down instead of getting your panties in a twist at the slightest provocation. I don't know Kotori as well as you did, but I don't think she'd defect unless there was a good reason for her to do so… beyond the obvious."

The solemn atmosphere was interrupted by a dismayed squeak from a third presence in the room, and both men looked up to see Satoshi's oldest daughter Naeko standing in the doorway with her face paled in shock. "E-excuse me," she stammered, backing away a pace, "but there's someone here to see you about an order, Dad."

"Oh, that. I'll be right there." Satoshi levered himself up from the table and gave Takeshi a pointed look before moving to the door. "I know you'll act however the hell you want no matter what I tell you, punk, but try to remember what I've said."

Instead of returning downstairs to relay the message, Naeko had remained at the top of the stairs and waited for her father to emerge and now bit her lip pensively as she struggled to form the question at the front of her mind into comprehensible words. Seeing this indecisiveness on her face, Satoshi stopped and folded his arms across his chest with a faintly impatient expression. "Spit it out, Naeko."

"Is – is what you were talking about really true, Dad? Did Kotori really leave for good, and did Tai-kun really go crazy?"

"Yes to the first, as far as we know… as for the second, we don't know for sure. The medics released him with a clean bill of health after he got back, but after that he locked himself up in his room and no one's seen him since. You tell me if that's crazy or no." Satoshi saw something in his daughter's eyes darken as she fought back tears and, swallowing a strained sigh, he instead gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder. "I know you want to try and fix everything, Naeko – you got that from me – but there are some things that just aren't your place to worry about. Take care of what you can, like maybe visiting that knucklehead boyfriend of yours, and let the people in higher places worry about the rest. That's what they're there for."

That said, Satoshi brushed past Naeko and made his way down the stairs, any evidence of this somber discussion gone from his face as he called out a pleasant greeting to his latest customer. Naeko then looked through the doorway at Takeshi, who had propped his chin up on one clenched fist and glared out the window in a foul temper with thoughts that she could only guess at. _What is it she'd told me? 'When it's all over, don't dwell on it. You'll turn ugly inside if you do.' Like it or not, both she and Dad are right – it's over and we can't do anything about it. What does Takeshi-sensei think he can do? It's just making him ugly inside…_

In the meantime, Takeshi had noticed the gaze turned upon him and now looked back at her with brow lowered in unspoken challenge. Naeko gulped nervously and mumbled, "I'm sorry, sensei," before turning and stumbling back down the stairs. The bell on the shop's front door echoed the uneasy jangle of her thoughts as she dashed out onto the street, a half-formed plan taking shape with each step along with her prayers that this would work. _I may not be able to get her back, but there is someone else I can get to._

_------- _

"N-no, I haven't heard anything from him since he got back," replied Hinata, giving her visitor a nervous look. "I've only heard from the people that've tried to talk to him, and they say he's gotten kind of scary."

Naeko couldn't help but stare at Hinata when she heard this answer. "You mean to say you haven't even visited him?"

"Well, no, but _–_ "

"_But_ nothing, Hinata. I thought you had a spine."

"I do, it's just that… Nobody's been able to get to him, Naeko. How could I stand a chance?"

Naeko sighed and leaned forward as if she were explaining the painfully obvious. "You care about him, don't you? If you really do, then you won't let anything stop you." When even this failed to convince Hinata, Naeko rose and held her hand out. "Come on. If you're really that frightened about what might happen, I'll go too. If love doesn't get through, then a bomb just might…"

-------

A late-afternoon lull had fallen over the forest that surrounded the Village Hidden in Sound, but not all was quiet. In one of the many chambers that filled the underground warren, a lantern shone muted light down onto the worn pages of a small leather-bound book and illuminated the words scribed therein for the eyes of the room's one inhabitant. Her lips moved as she soundlessly read the words, wishing that the book and its poetry would lull her into peaceful, unworried rest, but as the minutes ticked on she was met with no such luck. _I'm really going to have to kill him, aren't I,_ she mused, sighing and letting the book sag down onto her chest. _There's no way out._

A quiet knock sounded on the doorframe, and without lifting her head Kotori inquired as to the identity of her caller. "Who is it?"

"Who do you think?"

Kotori smirked, recognizing the voice and rising to answer the door. "Aww, you've come to see how I'm settling in. How sweet."

"I've said it before, I'll say it again: don't flatter yourself." Sasuke brushed through the doorway without so much as looking at her, shutting the door behind him to ensure some amount of privacy before speaking again. "What kind of game are you playing, Kotori? I heard about your 'loyalty test', and that sort of thing is going to be hard to fake – unless I've misjudged you all along and you really are the kind of person who would kill your best friend to get ahead."

Kotori snorted disdainfully when she heard this, returning to her seat on the bed and her abandoned book. "After the things I've heard about you and your family, Uchiha, you really aren't the one to talk. Think about what you know of the Mist and its people before you try and guess what I will or won't do."

"So you really are going to kill him, then…?"

A sigh, then a quiet rustle of paper as Kotori re-opened the volume of poems and resumed scanning its pages. "This isn't Konoha. I'll do what I need to do."

The tense silence was then broken by a sudden bark of laughter from the corridor outside that made both Kotori and Sasuke flinch and glance over towards the door, which Sasuke opened slowly with a suspicious frown. This expression deepened into a grimace of outright disgust when he saw the source of the noise – Kabuto, who held a small book in one hand and lifted his glasses with the other to wipe the trickle of mirthful tears away from the corner of one eye. When his laughter subsided enough for him to speak, Kabuto shook his head and murmured, "This is too rich, Sasuke. You really need to keep it locked up before someone else finds it…"

Kotori shot a puzzled look at Kabuto, who held up the book in his hand just long enough for her to see the words _Diary – Private_ printed on the cover before continuing. "'Revised Kill List'… let's find some good ones… ah. 'Itachi, because he killed off our clan and he makes me feel like a pansy.' No secret there, wouldn't you say? And then there's another one: 'Naruto – eventually – unless I was lied to about Mangekyou.' Hm. 'Orochimaru – pedophile, creepy snake fetish.' Interesting, and how about this? 'Taiki – because he kissed me…' _ha!_ '…and I think I liked it.'"

This last elicited an amused eyebrow raise and intrigued _"oooo"_ from Kotori; Sasuke lunged forward to snatch the accusatory book from Kabuto only to have it neatly raised above his reach. "Give me that!" hissed Sasuke, swiping at the diary and growling when he realized that it was just beyond his grasp. Kabuto shook his head with a gleeful smirk and resumed his reading:

"'Kotori, because she screwed my brains out and then dumped me after only one night. (I've wondered what was wrong ever since.) And now she's followed me, ruining my picture-perfect defection, and is slowly sinking her slimy little tentacles into my new boss.' Ew, you said _tentacles_…"

"You'd never understand even if I tried to explain. Sheesh," grumbled Kotori, barely hearing what Kabuto next read.

"'Kabuto, because he's a brownnosing, devious little ass. Nuff said.' That's not nice, Sasuke. And here I thought we were friends…"

"Yeah. Right," Sasuke snapped, making another futile swipe for the diary. "Now give that back!"

"No," replied Kabuto, locking eyes with Kotori just long enough for her to guess his plan before he lofted the book in her direction and dashed off down the corridor.

Kotori snatched the book and jammed it inside her tunic, daring its owner with a glare to come after it. Biting back a few choice words, Sasuke gave her a sour look before going after Kabuto and once again Kotori was alone. She glanced once at the poetry volume in one hand and then at the diary, giving the decision a moment's thought before guiltily setting the poetry down and cracking open the diary. "I'll do what I need to do, but only when I want to," she murmured, stretching out on her bed once more to peruse her new reading material.


	3. The Girl With The Short Fuse

**2 The Girl With The Short Fuse**

_Friendship, Devotion, and Good News At Last_

Having stopped only briefly at the Kurogata tailor shop so that Naeko could retrieve some of her gear, Naeko and Hinata now stood before the closed door of Taiki's dwelling. Naeko had begun surveying the door for traps or other ways to block entry, Hinata poised to flee at the first sign of disaster. "He must really not want anyone to talk to him," Naeko mused, narrowing her eyes as something caught her attention. Focusing her mind, she then dispelled the illusion covering the door to reveal an intricate net of wires and tags. "Normally this would be a setback. However, he has not had the training that I have, so this will be a cinch."

Naeko then reached into her waist pouch and withdrew a roll of blank papers; a small pot of ink and a brush came from another pocket. "What are you doing?" Hinata wondered, glancing over Naeko's shoulder as the latter set to work. "There really isn't anything you can do without getting someone hurt."

"Hush, you of little faith," was Naeko's curt reply, finishing the first of six tags and affixing it to the wall adjacent to the doorframe. "If I do this right, the only damage will be to that door."

"And if you don't?"

"Then my father didn't teach me right. Now give me a little bit of quiet to finish this, please?" Naeko's request was granted and it was a matter of minutes before she had placed the last of the tags. She stowed her scribing supplies and then, with a brief prayer to any overseeing gods, stepped forward and tapped the centermost of the wires with her finger. Hinata gasped in fear as the hallway was filled with a bright flash and acrid smoke, but Naeko held her ground and waited for the air to clear. She only stepped aside when the door gave a telltale creak and fell outward, thudding to the floor and revealing a darkened interior beyond the doorframe. "See? That was one of my father's containment techniques, modified a little bit for the situation – just the thing for an unstable booby trap planned by an equally unstable mind."

"If you say so," Hinata murmured, suddenly unsure whether the prospect of what lay beyond the door was more unnerving than this strange girl. "Um, that was all I really needed your help with. You can go now if you want."

"No insult, Hinata-chan, but helping you wasn't my main reason for coming here. I came to see if my friend is okay and I won't leave until I know for sure." Gingerly placing a hand on the charred doorframe, Naeko hopped lightly over the fallen wooden door panel and disappeared into the dimly lit apartment. A retching sound and muttered curse beckoned Hinata to follow, which she did with great concern for what she might see.

-------

In the time since its entrance had been sealed, the apartment had gathered an aura of decay and neglect that its occupant had done little to dispel. The window had been shut and the curtain drawn over it, and the only source of illumination came from flickering candles that had been set at the base of a makeshift shrine. Naeko gasped when she saw the central object of the shrine – a framed picture of their genin squad, the face of Kotori outlined by a dried crimson circle – and beneath it what she could only guess to be her teammate's forehead protector, a horizontal slash into the metal bisecting the leaf symbol of Konoha. "It's true, then," Naeko muttered to herself, feeling her insides turn leaden at this realization. "She really is gone…"

"Of course she is," replied Taiki in a ragged voice, emerging from the shadows in the opposite corner of the room from which he had silently observed his visitors. "She betrayed all of us, and for what reason? The only reason she let me live is to rub it in my face, I know that for sure."

"How can you say that?" Naeko stammered, glancing back at the photograph for a moment before looking back to Taiki. "She saved my life during the invasion. A traitor wouldn't have done that - "

"All to protect her image! Don't you get it? Kotori was only biding her time until a better option came along and then ran. We don't mean a damn thing to her!"

"You don't know that!" Clenching her fists so as to avoid doing anything rash, Naeko growled, "One of the first lessons a shinobi learns is to look beyond the obvious, and there has to be more to this than what we see on the surface. No wonder you aren't thinking clearly, Taiki – your head's lodged so far up your ass that it's a miracle you can breathe." Naeko let out one long, angrily-shivering breath before turning away. "He's all yours, Hinata. Beat some sense into him before I have to." Then, still shaking with barely-contained agitation, Naeko stormed out of the apartment.

All was silent for a moment, broken by a strange noise that Hinata soon realized was Taiki attempting to chuckle. "She doesn't get it, does she? I can see inside that bitch's head! I don't know how, but I can, and I see the beast she really is." His voice breaking under the strain of intense emotion, Taiki struggled to continue. "I – trusted her, trusted her with my life, and she betrayed that trust. Kotori, Sasuke, and Orochimaru… they deserve each other! They're all power-hungry traitorous freaks, and I'll be doing this world a favor when I kill them all. Just give me time, Hinata-hime. I just need to get stronger, and then I'll track them down and destroy them. This village will never have to worry again. Doesn't that sound nice?"

It had been difficult for Hinata to look directly at Taiki since he'd first started to speak, and these words made it no easier. "I don't know who's talking, but when the Taiki I know is back, tell me." Her gaze came to rest finally on the photograph – aloof Kotori, clingy Naeko, rueful Takeshi, and sheepish Taiki right in the middle of the group – and tears began to well in her eyes. "Who knows what she is now, but wasn't she your friend once? And as her friend, isn't it your job to make sure she's all right? You can't do that by sitting around here."

When Taiki did not reply, Hinata turned around slowly to see why and noticed that he'd sunk back to the floor in a defeated heap of tangled limbs, hair hanging down in greasy strings over his face. "But it's so dark in her mind, Hinata. How can I fight that?"

Sitting down next to Taiki, Hinata took one of his hands in hers and squeezed it lightly. "I don't know, Tai-kun, but you can't find out unless you try."

-------

"Dad was right," Naeko muttered as she stalked through the village marketplace, trying to push the frustration of moments ago into a far corner of her mind. "I've got to focus on fixing what I can. There's nothing I can do for that grade-A nutjob short of tying him up and hanging him by his toes until the blood rushes back to his head and he starts thinking like a sane person should. And even then, what's to stop him from running after her again? It's an ugly picture all around."

The scent of seasoned broth threading through the air now tickled Naeko's nose and brought her up short. It took a loud rumble from her stomach for her to realize just how hungry she was, and with a tired sigh she turned from her aimless path to step into the Ichiraku.

"Welcome back, Naeko-chan!" Ayame's greeting came in its usual cheerful tones, prompting a weak smile from her visitor that did not stay for long. "It's nice to see things returning to normal, wouldn't you say? Well, as normal as they can be, I guess. What can I get for you?"

"Pork ramen, that's all. I don't need anything else exciting today." Naeko plopped down on one of the seats in front of the counter, resting her chin on her hand and staring off into space. "What's left for a normal, no-talent person to do? Nothing."

"I wouldn't say that." Ayame returned with a pot of tea and a cup after relaying Naeko's order and poured a drink for the younger girl. "We're all good for something, even if it's making sure the people we care about have something to come home to. Takeshi-kun tells me you've learned a lot, so I don't think you have anything to worry about." When even this failed to bring the smile back to Naeko's face, Ayame frowned as she tried to think of some other good news. "And you know what else? I heard that Naruto woke up today! He's not in the best mood, though, so maybe you know something to cheer him up."

Naeko sat up straight, gloomy musings banished for the moment when she replayed the waitress' words in her mind. "He's awake? That's the best thing I've heard all day!" Blushing a bit under Ayame's knowing smile, Naeko waved a hand dismissively and added, "I knew he'd come through. Make that two pork ramen to go, why don't you?"

-------

It didn't take long to prepare the two bowls of noodles, but this short time seemed like an eternity to Naeko as she sat in wait. _So maybe he wasn't successful in bringing Sasuke back this time, but I'm sure he'll get another chance. Knowing Naruto, he won't give up until he gets the job done, and it's my job to help him get strong. I'll bet this ramen will make him feel better! _Once her order was finished, Naeko moved as fast as she could for the hospital, her mind racing always one step ahead of her feet as she imagined what she would find waiting for her. _He'll be back to normal in no time. I won't give up until I know he's all right…_

The sight that greeted her in the hospital courtyard was decidedly different than what she'd expected and, puzzled, she skidded to a halt to figure out what was going on. A large orange toad basked in the afternoon sun, only briefly acknowledging the confused girl with a blink of its golden eyes before lapsing into half-slumber once more. Naeko spotted an older white-haired man perched on the window-ledge just above the toad, engaging in conversation with someone inside the building. Even as she strained her hearing to its limits, she could only make out parts of the dialogue, but what she heard rooted her in place as a chill gripped her core.

"You aren't just a normal kid. Akatsuki is after you because you have the Kyuubi…" _He must be talking to Naruto!_ Naeko realized, her heart skipping not in happiness but instead with fear. _Who – or what – is Akatsuki, and why would they be after Nine-Tails? And if they're after Naruto because of his demon, wouldn't they go after Tori-chan because of hers? Not good, not good at all!_

The man had continued his speech while Naeko's thoughts raced, and she forced herself to be calm and listen to what else he had to say. "Someday, you'll have to face people that are more dangerous than Orochimaru. Give up on Sasuke." _And now he's telling Naruto to give up on his friend, just because there are bigger things to worry about? What kind of person is this guy?_ "This was bound to happen sooner or later. Don't make yourself suffer anymore."

This last phrase set Naeko back as it brought back all-too-recent memories. _Taiki said something almost like that - that Kotori was only biding her time until the right chance came along. Was that true for Sasuke too? There still has to be something worth saving, though – friendship has to be worth it, and this geezer is trying to tell Naruto to give up! I won't let this happen - _

A quiet noise of assent from inside the hospital brought Naeko back into focus, and the words that followed dispelled her inner chill somewhat as they reached her ears. "Even if I'm alone, I will create more powerful jutsu and definitely rescue Sasuke! I'll defeat those Akatsuki guys too!"

_He doesn't even have a clue as to what he's getting into, but he's still going to try. That's so cool – even though it scares me a little. _Naeko could not help a rueful smile as this crossed her mind, then grew pensive as something else occurred to her. _Then again, I'm just as clueless as he is, maybe even worse. If I knew a little bit more of what's going on, then maybe I could help._

The older man now sat silent for a moment, shoulders slumped in dismay at what he was hearing from his apprentice. When he finally spoke again, he sighed and said, "Well, a fool is a fool, but maybe an idiot can still do something. Once you're discharged, get ready - you idiot!"

"That's more like it," Naeko muttered aloud, shaking her head in disbelief as she moved for the hospital entrance. "Now I can get some answers."

The man and his toad had gone by the time Naeko reached the room where Naruto had been placed to recover, and it took effort for her to seem casual as she knocked on the door to announce her presence. "Hey, Naruto-kun! I just thought you might be up for some comfort food…"

She did not miss the brief flicker of shadow that crossed Naruto's face as he looked up, all too quickly replaced by a wide grin. "Naeko-chan! I was wondering when I'd see you." He took a quick sniff of the air and the grin broadened even further. "And you brought ramen! You read my mind."

"It's not too hard to do." Naeko crossed the room and glanced out the window for a moment, then set the delivery crate with its two bowls on the bedside table before perching on the edge of the bed. "I know things didn't go well, and I heard some of the conversation with that old man. Tell me what's going on."

A lull in the conversation followed as Naruto took in a mouthful of the noodles, making a pleased sound as he did so. "It's nothing, really. Don't worry about it, okay?"

This at last merited a frosty emerald glare from Naeko. "Like I'll believe that!" A sigh, then, "You want to save your friend, Naruto-kun, and you're willing to risk your life to do it. One of my friends ran off too, so I know how you feel and I want to help. You've got to let me know what's going on first, though." Her mind returned to what she'd seen upon first arriving in the hospital courtyard, and she frowned for a moment. "First up, tell me who that geezer with the toad was and why you let him order you around…"


	4. Tokens of Loyalty

**3 Tokens of Loyalty**

_The Beginning of a Difficult Road_

Few raised comment as Kotori left Otogakure under the cover of dusk, and few could guess at the conflict playing out in her mind as she ran. _He really knew what he was doing when he picked this task,_ she silently grumbled, noting the sunset colors of gold and blood reflected in the rice fields and wondering what kind of omen this spelled for her. _Fortunately for me, he didn't say just what kind of token to bring back, so that gives me a little bit of leeway. I don't want to kill Taiki – gods above and below, I don't want to – but I don't know enough of how to fake it so that he'll survive. I'll just have to trust what I do know and leave the rest to luck._

Paying little attention to the passage of time, Kotori let the terrain around her fade into a blur as she let her slim connection to her target pull her along. _As hard as this is, I'm going to have to commit to it one hundred percent. No one will believe me if I only go halfway._ With a deep exhalation, she reached into her mind and touched the icy core that remained from her training in the Mist Village, hammered into her being by knife and sword and fist and blood, feeling a refreshing shiver as the memories descended:

_Pain is nothing – my emotions are nothing – I am nothing – only the mission is important, and I exist solely for the mission. All else is trivial._

_-------_

_Does it always rain before something awful happens?_

Taiki lay awake, gazing up at the ceiling and listening to the patter of rainfall on the roof of his apartment building. The apartment itself had been tidied and opened to fresh air once more, but it could not be said that its occupant had achieved a similar state of clarity. He turned his head slightly to look at the wall where the group photograph hung once more, glass cleaned so that the faces could be seen clearly, and found himself focusing on Kotori's pale profile. Unlike most other similar pictures that he'd seen where the group clustered together in genuine camaraderie, the girl from Mist seemed reluctant to be identified with this particular association. She'd rested her elbow on Taiki's shoulder but otherwise remained distant, a distinct counterpoint to Naeko's limpet grip, and as Taiki squinted at the photograph he noted a quality to Kotori's expression that he'd not seen before. _It's almost like she's disgusted with all of this and can't wait for it to be over,_ he thought, then shook his head to banish the idea.

_She gets it from her mother._

Taiki flinched when he heard the comment in a voice that he had not heard in some time. "Oh, right. It's you."

_Yeah, it's me. __Kinda__ forgot, didn't you?_ The Mist jounin snickered but did not tease his host further, instead continuing his earlier train of thought. _Her mother Emi also didn't have a lot of tolerance for us regular folks – thought she was above it all, at least for a while. Alcohol is a great leveling device, though._ He then lapsed into silence and refused to elaborate, leaving Taiki with a puzzled frown.

Lying back on his pillow, he reached into the corner of his mind that he shared with his former teammate and steeled himself for the seething darkness that usually greeted any outside contact. He was startled to feel a sort of icy, emotionless calm in reaction to his touch and was equally surprised to note that the sense of connection was growing stronger. _She's getting closer! But why is she returning – she knows it's a death warrant if she does._

Curiosity soon triumphed over caution, prompting Taiki to rise from his bed and attire himself for travel. It was only a nagging sense of worry that caused him to bring along his kunai and other combat gear, even though he had not sensed any other presence than Kotori. "Maybe – just maybe – I'll be able to convince her to come back," he murmured as he shut the apartment door behind him and braced himself for the weather. "But if not, it would be foolish for me to go undefended."

-------

The rain continued unabated as Kotori moved onward, and she thanked providence for this unexpected advantage. _Water may be turned into mist to obscure vision but, more importantly, rushing water may wash away the scent of death._ She had since passed into the enemy Fire territory from the safety of adjoining Rice Field Country, but the possibility of attack did not disturb her. _If need be, they will all fall, but first I must do what I came for. Once it is done I will return and give my master the proof that he seeks, and only then will I rest. It's __so close that I can feel it in my blood!_

Relishing the slick moisture of rainfall against her skin, Kotori paused for a second to gain a fresh bearing on her target. "Come closer, little mouse. I only seek to ease your pain…"

-------

"She's stopped moving. I wonder why?" Taiki had likewise stopped to figure out his location, the sensation of proximity so strong that it made the fine hairs on the back of his neck rise in apprehension. The rain had given way to a dense fog that clung to his skin like oil, and this in itself made Taiki shiver. "That can't possibly be natural. She's got to be close by." He waited for the Mist jounin to offer comment and was both surprised and unnerved that he remained wordless. "What gives? You're supposed to be helping me, you know."

_I don't betray my own village - not in life, nor in death, and she was a member of Hidden Mist long before you ever knew her. I won't give away my people's secrets._ The jounin then returned to silence, leaving Taiki with the feeling that he was one misstep away from the proverbial executioner's axe. "All right, Kotori, I know you're out there. Why don't you just show yourself and get it over with?"

"Because stalking you in the fog is so much more fun, that's why." The disembodied voice came from both everywhere and nowhere, causing Taiki's skin to twitch. "I don't even need to see you to know where you are. Your fear stinks to high heaven!"

"Who says that I'm afraid?" Taiki forced himself to be still, reaching for a kunai while at the same time trying to pinpoint Kotori's location.

"Your heart does. I can feel it trembling even as you take that knife into your hand. I've beaten you to it, though. Hope you don't mind."

The whistle of sharp metal now cut through the fog, and it was only through presence of mind that Taiki could dodge the giant blade as it sliced towards him. "What's the deal? I thought we were friends, and friends don't try to hurt each other."

"That was before I was given my orders. If my master says you must die, then who am I to disobey?" An echo of the sword's swing slashed across Taiki's upper arm, causing him to gasp in sudden pain as a deep gash opened. "He only said that _he_ wouldn't harm you – he never said that he wouldn't send someone else to do it."

Anger began to bubble in Taiki's heart as these words sank in. "What kind of a person are you, Kotori? This isn't the 'you' I thought I knew…"

This query met with no reply, and once again Taiki was alone. The mist had grown thicker and now felt like a hand pressing down on his chest that made it hard to breathe. He could feel the trickle of blood down his left arm where Kotori's first strike had hit, the wound throbbing fiercely as the ambient temperature began to drop. Then, before he could brace or dodge, his phantom foe hit again, leaving an identical wound in his right arm. "So you're going to make me hurt first, is that it? Not even a clean, dignified death?"

The next strike scored the backs of his thighs, causing him to crumple with an agonized hiss into the dirt. Anger which had started as a slow acidic burn now rippled through his body in electric waves and, in spite of the debilitating pain left by Kotori's fledgling assault, he forced himself to stand once more. _There's got to be some way to stop her. Getting her away from that sword will be a start, but how?_

As he stopped to think, he realized that all had gone silent except for the rapid pulse of his heart – no rustling of greenery or creak of tree limbs to betray his opponent's position. _She really knows what she's doing, doesn't she? One more listing for Takeshi-sensei's Bingo Book, and she's after my head. What's more, she's got the one element she's been trained with since she was little – water – and plenty of it. But what do I have? __Phantom hands, some creepy tie to the Death God that only wakes up when I go off the deep end… and lightning._

Taiki barely had time to raise a pair of the ghostly hands as the zanbatou came down a final time, aiming to cleave him clean in two had it made contact. As it was, the hands reflexively reached up and caught the sword before it could finish its swing, absorbing the force of the blow before exploding in a cascade of water that coated the weapon from tip to grip. Another set of the hands appeared and held the sword at bay, giving their manipulator another brief moment of planning time. He allowed himself a split second to wonder at this sudden change of heart from the Mist spirit, at the same time focusing his chakra in his palms in a strategy that he prayed would work.

His hands began to glow and spark with barely contained energy, and he could feel his palms beginning to singe from the lightning made manifest. Right when he felt he could no longer maintain this energy buildup, Taiki reached up for the zanbatou and clamped his hands to the flat of the blade. The electricity climbed the length of the blade, the metal humming from the sheer volume of power conducted through it and the water that still coated it. A brief glance showed Taiki that Kotori had abandoned her weapon, and with a twinge of regret for what he was about to do, he increased the voltage until the blade shrieked in protest like a living thing.

Seconds later, the zanbatou exploded in a shower of luminescent shards that Taiki called upon another set of hands to shelter himself from. _Now I can get to work!_

His brief moment of victory was shattered by an unearthly howl of wild anger, the likes of which he had only heard once before. The mist dissipated as easily as someone pulling back a curtain, revealing the snarling, crimson-spattered half-human form of the Nekomata who growled to herself as she plucked fragments of the zanbatou from her flesh. Noting Taiki's blanch of shock out of the corner of one glowing eye, the demon grinned and murmured, "You forgot all about me, didn't you? Well, you may have broken her claws, little boy, but I still have mine!"

The Cat then sprang forward, swinging one sharp-taloned hand and neatly shredding through Taiki's ethereal defenses. It continued onward to rake him across the cheek, missing his eye only by sheer luck and instead coating his face with hot blood. She twisted aside to avoid a slashing attack from her target, clubbing him across the throat with her arm in crushing force, then lashed out with one foot to slam him to the ground once more. Taiki struggled to rise, only to be knocked down again with a swift slice to the gut. Coughing up a ragged spurt of blood, he raised his head to see a two-foot-long section of the zanbatou pinning him to the ground, buried too deeply for him to dislodge it.

"You shouldn't have broken the sword, you stupid little boy," the Nekomata remarked, plucking up another fragment of the sword from the dirt and testing its edge for sharpness. "You see, that made her really mad. And when she gets mad like that, it's easier for me to come out. She would have been relatively nice to you. I see no reason for such courtesy…" Kneeling across his chest to prevent further movement, the Cat gathered Taiki's long, black hair in one hand and cruelly twisted to yank it tight. "That abdominal wound is enough to kill you if left untreated, and I don't think anyone will get here in time. Meanwhile, I think I know what kind of trophy will please Orochimaru-sama, so if you'll just sit back and relax, this won't take long at all."

The pain in his gut soon faded into memory as Kotori, still possessed by the demonic spirit within her, laid the metal to his hairline and began to cut into the skin.

-------

Kotori came back to her senses some time later, the Cat receding into the back of her consciousness as she returned to friendly territory. She slowed her pace and took stock of her injuries, noting that she bled copiously not only from the reopened seal on her shoulder but from numerous punctures and slashes all over her body. "What on earth - " The Cat all too willingly supplied the missing pieces to her memory, and Kotori bit back a sharp curse when she realized what had happened. "Now what am I supposed to do? It's not like that kind of weapon can be replaced easily. And is he – dead?"

_You have nothing to worry about,_ the Nekomata replied. _And I believe your trophy will be quite satisfactory. Take a look…_

Kotori blinked as she withdrew the tangle of long, dark hair – scalp still attached – from inside her tunic. "I believe that will do just fine. Was this your idea?"

_I knew you'd like it. I also made sure to retrieve a few pieces of your weapon, in case you could find further use for them._

The grip to the zanbatou had been tucked carefully into her sash, along with the scroll that had once been used to summon the giant blade. Kotori frowned but did not discard them, filing this information into a dark corner of her mind for processing later. The scalp was replaced inside her tunic and the girl resumed her quick pace of earlier, eager to deliver proof of her deed and bring the matter to a close.

-------

"Such sweet, strong chakra! I've not tasted the like of it since you left." The woman knelt, scooping a pinch of dirt up with her fingers and placing it on the tip of her tongue. After a moment's analysis, she spat it back out again and smirked. "Fresh blood, and lots of it. It gladdens me to know that your skills have not gone to waste."

She reached for the headband that covered her eyes, fingers grazing the metal plate graven with four wavy lines as she pushed it up to her forehead. Pale blue eyes swept over the scene of conflict, details lost to the fog of near-blindness, but what she could see more than satisfied her. "You took pleasure in this, didn't you? Who was this young man that you reveled so much in slaying him?"

Something crunched underfoot as she rose again, and with a sudden frown she reached down to examine the strange object. Her sharper senses and background knowledge confirmed her suspicions, and she growled an oath. "Foolish! You let your weapon be broken like this? A Swordsman without their sword…"

Sighing, the woman threw the sword fragment back down to the ground and pounded it in with her foot. She then pushed the headband back to its former place, tugging it this way and that to make sure it sat right and running a hand through ghost-white locks to re-settle them. "Well, Kotori, your teacher looks forward to seeing what you'll do next. You just might redeem yourself, but who knows?" Ignoring a feeble whisper cast her way from the dying young man on the battlefield, the woman made her way back into the woods and disappeared from view.


	5. Not Without My Permission

**4 Not Without My Permission**

_Unpleasant Surprises and Flashes of Insight_

It was a matter of days before Naruto was released from the hospital, an occasion that was celebrated with a lunch date out on the town at his favorite ramen shop. Naeko had put off asking questions about the conversation that she'd overheard and knew that she'd best ask them now before it was too late. It cannot be said that she liked the answers that she received…

"What do you mean, three years?" Naeko yelled with enough force to flutter the awning separating the interior of the Ichiraku from the street. "You agreed to let that crusty old freak take you away for that long?"

"But I have to," protested Naruto, unprepared for this angry reaction and not sure of how to deal with it. "I promised that I'd get stronger and bring Sasuke back, and this is the best bet I've got."

"Best bet, nothing! I heard the geezer say that you've got people after you, and if they're as bad as I think they are, you don't want to mess with them! You won't be safe, and I don't want you to get hurt!"

Naruto winced sheepishly and grumbled, "You do know who I'm traveling with, right?"

"Some nasty old guy who summons toads," Naeko grumbled around a mouthful of ramen. "Big deal."

"He's one of the Sannin, Naeko-chan – Jiraiya, maybe you've heard of him?"

Naeko gagged on her noodles and had to be slapped on the back before she could breathe or speak coherently. "You mean – Jiraiya? The one who spies on naked women and writes dirty books? Of course I've heard of him, idiot! Tori-chan grumbled about him all the time…" A brief flash of pain crossed Naeko's face at the unbidden mention of her absent friend, only to be replaced by renewed indignation. "Absolutely not!" she growled, slamming her fist down on the counter and rattling the dishes nearby. "You're not going with him, not without some supervision!"

This last statement was met with wide-eyed blank incomprehension. "You mean you want to come along?"

"What do you think I said? Of course I'm coming with you." Naeko paid for the meal with a tense smile to Ayame and then all but dragged Naruto out into the street where she began to fume in earnest. "I let you go for a few days and you come back half-dead, just because you wanted to go after your friend and bring him back with you! What the hell might happen if I let you go for three years – _three years!_ Just the idea makes me mad, and it scares me half to death!" She paused just long enough to take a breath and notice that her prey was attempting to sneak out of range and perhaps to escape. "Just where do you think _you're_ going, young man? I'm not finished…"

-------

"I don't get why you're so interested, Itachi. I mean, it's not like this is even our job."

Ignoring his colleague for the moment, Itachi continued his visual examination of the forest clearing. "She was here not too long ago, and there was a fight."

Kisame sighed deeply and decided to try again. "You didn't answer my question. Isn't there something else more productive than chasing some girl around? She was kinda cute, and she does have one of the bijuu, but other than that – what's the big deal?"

This line of inquiry was met with a flat gaze from Itachi. "If you have other ideas, tell me. If not…"

Kisame opened his mouth to protest, then realized that he had no grounds. "You're right, I guess." He also glanced around, noting the crushed grass and the splatters of crimson which the rain had only just begun to wash away. "I would've paid good cash to see this – it looks like she really pounded whoever she was fighting."

"You mean him?" Itachi had crossed the clearing and now stood over the fallen body, considering the spike rammed through the lower torso and other untended wounds. He nudged the collapsed figure with a foot and shrugged when it rolled limply back into place. "Looks like he's dead."

"Yeah, you'd think so." The shark-man picked up one of the shards of metal from the grass and compared it to the similar sliver in the gut of the corpse. "And her sword's broken!" A sharp laugh. "Must've been one hell of a fight. I pity whoever's assigned to take her out, huh?"

Itachi made a noncommittal sound, attention already elsewhere. "Someone else has already been here. What did they want?"

Kisame followed his associate's eyes to the scarred bark of a tree where a mark had been slashed in with a sharp edge. It took him a moment to process its meaning, but afterwards he couldn't help a chuckle. "_Sorame…_ 'blind eye'… must be Manami! She can't see worth a damn." He looked back to the body and allowed a smile of rueful admiration. "Wonder what she had to say about that."

-------

Taiki woke up after what seemed like an eternity, agonizingly aware of the multitude of injuries inflicted upon him during the struggle with Kotori. "She beat the crap out of me," he mused, getting up from the ground with a pained grunt, "stabbed me through the gut, and then scalped me! How did I survive?"

A familiar, rickety laugh greeted him, and he spun to see if his ears were fooling him. "You didn't, kid! Welcome to the afterlife."

The youth blinked as he saw the all-too-real form of the Mist jounin, grinning from ear to ear at the stunned Taiki. "You're kidding me. I'm dead?"

A second form faded into view, a dark-haired woman wearing the insignia of the Cloud Village. "Goubatsu-san is right, Taiki, and so was your friend. No one got to you in time to save you." She shot a look at his scalp and grimaced. "The mangle job she did on your head didn't help much either…"

Taiki clapped both hands to his head and let out a gasp of horror. "You mean I'm dead… and _bald?_ This isn't fair – who runs this place? I want to file a complaint."

The jounin from the Mist Village – properly named Goubatsu – glanced away to where a fourth form had appeared. "Why don't you take it up with him? You two seem to be on such good terms in the first place."

Taiki likewise looked to the newcomer and felt a chill settle in his core when he realized who he was looking at. "Shinigami? Oi… I have to be dead, because this is too strange for the living." The Death God raised one hand in a beckoning motion, and Taiki sighed. "Right, coming…"

-------

"Are you sure he's not around here? I've been looking everywhere."

Ayame shrugged apologetically in answer to Jiraiya's question. "I'm sorry, sir, but I haven't seen him in over an hour. He came in to eat lunch with Iruka-san, and right after that Naeko-chan grabbed Naruto and took him away. She said she needed to talk to him, that it was urgent."

"…Naeko?" It was obvious that the name did not register in Jiraiya's memory, and he looked to the waitress for clarification.

"Naeko of the Kurogata family. They've been seeing each other for a little while now, since a little bit after the invasion." Ayame giggled at the thought, adding, "An odd pair if I've ever seen one, but it seems to work."

Jiraiya rolled his eyes upon hearing this, muttering, "The runt went and got himself a girlfriend and he didn't tell me? This is going to be fun…"

-------

"Fun? Oh, you have no idea, mister." Sixty-five inches of green-eyed indignation stood with arms crossed, glaring up at the older man with no fear of what she faced. "How do you think I feel about the idea of letting this idiot go for three years? How am I supposed to know he won't wind up dead in a ditch somewhere because you weren't watching?"

"I am still here, you know," the third occupant of the room interjected tiredly, putting up a token struggle against the glowing bonds that held him in place and subsiding when Naeko gave him a foul look over her shoulder.

Jiraiya put fingers to temples and massaged the ache he felt growing there. "If I promise not to let him out of my sight, will you let him go?"

Naeko shook her head, glaring one last time at Naruto before returning her attention to Jiraiya. "No way."

_"Look at me, bargaining with a genin…"_ It was only an affronted noise from Naeko that made the older man realize he'd spoken the thought aloud. "Listen, you. I really don't want to resort to force, but if you don't give in…"

"What of it? I dare you to try and cut those threads, Jiraiya-sama. They'll only give if I do, and I've already told you no." Naeko retrieved a kunai from her leg holster and handed it to him, then stepped aside to offer him an opportunity. "I'll let you try if you really want to..."

Jiraiya sideglanced the girl, trying to divine any ulterior motive from her challenge, and when none presented itself he sighed and turned to his task. A few saws at the fibers met with little success, and he turned back to Naeko with an open scowl. "What the hell is this?"

"Clan secret," Naeko replied, reclaiming the kunai and putting it back in its holster. "You don't need to worry about training me, Jiraiya-sama… hell, I don't want anything you _could_ teach me. I just want to make sure this knucklehead is all right, and maybe to see a little bit more of the world before I try to pass my exams again. Is that too much to ask?"

Looking from the stubborn stance of Naeko to the barely-concealed exasperation of the hog-tied Naruto, Jiraiya heaved a heavy sigh and grumbled, "Fine, I guess so. But I take no responsibility if anything happens to you, all right?"

"I think I'll be fine, sir," the girl replied calmly, moving to her captive's side and lightly tapping the threads. The glow faded away and the threads slackened to reveal chafe-marks on wrists and ankles. Naeko carefully unwound her precious cord and stored it on its spool, ignoring the looks given her by both males as she focused on undoing her work. "See, Naruto-kun? That could have been a lot easier if you'd just relax a little…"

-------

"Welcome back, Kotori!" The falsely cheery tones of Kabuto grated on Kotori's nerves, and she chose to reply only with a venomous glare. "It looks like you had a rough time and need some rest, so I'll be quick. Did you kill him?"

"Go and see for yourself, ass," Kotori snarled back, brushing by and continuing down the corridor. "He bled like a gutted fish, and I don't think he could have survived."

"And I do trust that you brought back proof, as you were told to do…"

"Of course I did," answered Kotori, not bothering to turn as she spoke. "Are you done, or do you have any more stupid questions for me?"

"No, no, quite done. Now take a bath – you stink, and the blood is hardly sanitary."

"Bite me." Kotori noted that there was no reply to this last remark and made her way back to her quarters for a change of clothing and some time to rest. It was when she got a good look at herself that she realized just how much damage had been done and resolved to tend to her wounds immediately before her condition worsened. "First a bath, then a bite to eat and a nap should do me well. I'll present Orochimaru-sama with his prize when I'm rested."

-------

Many of Kotori's minor wounds had healed by the time she disrobed in the bath, and the major injuries had faded to mere shadows of their former selves under the healing influences of the Nekomata. The seal on her arm, scabbed over from its recent reopening, still ached as she doused herself in cold water as part of her ritualistic bathing routine, and something in her heart twinged as Kotori watched the bloody suds swirl down the drain. She recognized this twinge as regret and forced it away under the icy armor of her training, scrubbing at her skin viciously with a brush until it glowed pinkly clean.

Once she had removed the filth from her body, Kotori removed the cover from the bath and settled into it for a moment of relaxation. Before she knew it, her chin drooped to her chest as the fatigue from her earlier exertions caught up with her, and she drifted into silent slumber in the steamy atmosphere of the bathing area. In her dreaming mind, she was not alone in the tub. A familiar figure sat at the opposite end, propped up in the water in a gruesome parody of her own repose, and her stomach twisted when she realized that it was the body she'd left to die on the forest floor. Its unseeing eyes fixed on her, staring at some horror beyond her view, and its mouth opened in a soundless scream as its flesh began to melt away in the red-dyed water until a bare skeleton was left –

Kotori found herself echoing the scream, her eyes flying open as she sat upright quickly with a splash of displaced water. Once she'd verified that she'd been dreaming, she got out of the tub and retrieved her robe from its hook outside the bathing area, tying it tightly as feeble insurance against the fright of her dream. She gathered up her bath items and moved for the door, jumping back a step when she saw that someone had been standing outside the bath room the entire time. "Uchiha! What in hell are you doing here?"

Noticing the angry flush in the young woman's face and the obvious signs of a recent fright, Sasuke smirked. "You didn't really kill him, did you? I don't think you have the will."

"You're quite wrong." Kotori drew her composure around her and allowed herself a mirroring smile, reaching up to tuck a strand of damp hair behind her ear as she chose her words. "I have no problem with disposing of someone I called a friend if they stand in the way of my goals. You must be projecting your own insecurities onto me, Uchiha."

Suppressed as it was, the twitch of anger was still visible as Sasuke clenched his teeth to avoid an uncalculated response. "So you'd go that far for a lie?"

_I know what you're getting at, but let's drag it out of you,_ Kotori mused, maintaining her guise of cold superiority as she watched Sasuke. "I have no idea what you mean."

"Yes, you do. You're trying to play double agent and you're doing a lousy job – even I can see it. Why don't you just give up?"

An evil idea hatched in Kotori's mind and she seized upon it with a silent cackle of fiendish glee. "I still don't know what you're talking about, Uchiha. Maybe you should check your own motives before questioning mine." As she spoke, Kotori unfastened the sash of her bathrobe, holding the garment closed with her hand. "And if you really think I'm hiding something, why don't you search me?"

With those words, Kotori let the robe fall open, revealing her freshly-scrubbed figure and skin that gave scant hint of the battle she'd recently survived. She noticed beads of sweat forming on Sasuke's forehead as he struggled to keep his eyes on her face, and her smirk widened to a triumphant grin. "As you can see, your doubts are unfounded. Now, did you come here just to bother me or was there some other reason?"

Sasuke let out a small exhalation of relief as Kotori tied her robe shut again, then blinked and shook his head to clear it of what he'd just seen. "Orochimaru is waiting for a report on your mission and wants to see what you've brought back for him. He's having dinner in his rooms and sent me to get you."

Kotori raised an eyebrow at this message, fighting down the nausea that threatened to rise at the possibilities of what awaited her. "Aww. You started out with such promise, didn't you? And now it must be so disappointing, the rising star of Otogakure being demoted to Orochimaru's bitch-boy. Thank you for passing the message, Uchiha. I'll go and get dressed more appropriately…"

The struggle for emotional control was once again apparent as Sasuke forced the smirk back onto his face. "I wouldn't worry too much about that. Your reputation's gone ahead of you and I think he might have something else in mind."

"You really need to work on those insecurities," Kotori retorted, setting her bath items down and stepping forward. "After all, it's not my problem if he likes his boys fresh and his women slightly more experienced – is it, Uchiha?" She stretched up enough to kiss him on the cheek, one hand reaching around to give his backside a light squeeze. Relishing the disgusted expression on Sasuke's face, Kotori then retrieved her belongings and glided back down the hallway.

_I don't like the sounds of this at all,_ she thought as she walked. _It has ugly written all over it, and there's not a damn thing I can do to stop it if I want to keep this up._

The Nekomata, who had been awake but silent through the whole exchange, now chose to interject. _Oh, come on. It could be fun…_

_Fine, then _you_ can sleep with him. I'll find my happy place far away from the whole event and you can call me when you're done._

A toothy grin from the Cat, then, _I'll remember you said that._


	6. Mine and Mine Alone

**5 Mine and Mine Alone**

_The Gift of the Snake, and the Unquiet Dead_

"Okay, might I start off by saying that I think this whole arrangement is totally messed up?" Taiki glared at the cloaked back of the Death God, half-expecting violent rebuke to his attitude. _But what can it do to me? I'm already dead!_ "Not to question anyone's judgment, but I had things to do. I don't think I'm supposed to be here."

**They all say that.**

Taiki had to stop suddenly to avoid walking into the shadowy being, who had paused and now turned to look back at him. He saw only colorless void where the eyes would have been in its demon mask, an emptiness that frightened him even as he tried to break its gaze. "Um, excuse me?"

**They all say that, but it doesn't change a thing. I come for everyone in the end, no matter how they try to flee.**

The young man struggled to shake off the absurdity of this situation and to grasp what he was hearing. "But – I was supposed to die? That can't be right, can it?"

**You can never truly understand death until you've experienced it. After all, isn't this preferable to the pain of living? You don't have to worry about a thing anymore. Let everyone else take care of it.**

"I can't do that, and you know it! I've left too many people behind to stop worrying. There's my dad, and Hinata… and Kotori - "

This last brought a booming laugh. **You care enough about the person who butchered you that you'd risk it again to go back? That's perverse… and funny.** The Death God reached into its tunic and pulled out a strand of prayer beads, turning them over and running them thoughtfully between its fingers. **So one death wasn't enough for you?**

"No! Don't you get it? The people I care about are more important to me!"

**You amuse me, little man, so I think I might be lenient with you. **_Click-click-click_ as the prayer beads made another round of the god's hand. **But, since you treat death so lightly, there will be a cost.**

"Anything! Just name it, and send me back!"

**Anything?** A thoughtful silence, then, **For each soul you take, you will feel its death in your own flesh. If that is the path you choose to become stronger, each pain will become yours. Are we in agreement?**

"I've died once already, and it wasn't a treat. I think I can handle it again."

**So be it.**

Down came the prayer beads, looped around Taiki's neck and yanked tight. Images flickered through his mind – first a beautiful, kind woman incinerated by the fury of a child she'd dared to raise as her own whose powers no one could understand, and Taiki felt the ripping agony as if his soul were being torn out by the roots – then a masked, dark man cleaved apart by a petite teenage girl with vengeance in mind and giant blade in her hands – and finally, a wretched prisoner whose only fault was being in the wrong place at the wrong time, body ravaged by torture of needles and poisons and merciless beatings, called one last time to serve as the subject of a brutal experiment, lacking even the basic will to scream as his body crumbled into ash…

Taiki's eyes fluttered open in abject panic, startled not to see the murky tones of the afterlife but the vivid colors of the living world. Green leaves, brown soil and tree bark, shimmering sparkles of shattered metal, all overlaid with brilliant crimson splatters of what could only be blood. The rest of his senses came back in short order – the irony whiff of carnage, the whisper of wind through the surrounding foliage, metallic silt in his mouth and finally the pain rampaging through his body. _Have to focus,_ he told himself as he struggled to rise, thanking gods for the rain-loosened soil that made it easier to dislodge the shard pinning him to the ground. _Have to get back to the road where someone can find me – still so much I have left to do –_

_------- _

"Reputation, indeed," mused Kotori with a sniff as she dressed again in her quarters, doing her best to mentally prepare for the task ahead. "Methinks someone is a little jealous. But, then again, if I can play that reputation to my advantage, why not?" _Much as the idea disgusts me._ She tied her sash loosely, letting her tunic hang open to offer a slight hint of what lay within, and settled for leaving her hair loose over her shoulders. The last touches of her appearance complete, Kotori then turned her attention to the chore of finding something with which to wrap her battle trophy and chose a simple washcloth to serve the purpose. Lastly, she tucked the hilt of her zanbatou into her sash and gave herself a final lookover before leaving. "All right, let's show him what he wants to see."

Few bothered her as she traveled the corridors, giving her a wide berth when they saw the remnant of her weapon on open display and the dangerous glint in her eyes. _They may have heard rumors of the Seven, but few will likely know the truth. And if they know my sword is broken, they will know to tread lightly, because they should know that there is more to a warrior than their weapon – no matter how fearsome._

All was eerily silent when she reached her destination, and Kotori had to suppress a nervous twitch as she asked permission to be seen. Sensing her host's unease, the Cat spoke up once more: _Just let me handle this, all right? I'm what they know. All you need to do is sit back and watch._ Kotori mentally sighed and stepped aside, giving the demon control once more and offering a prayer to higher powers that nothing would go wrong.

Once in possession of the girl's body, the Cat relaxed the tense muscles and tightened nerves, assuming a posture of sensual indolence as she waited for her request to be answered. The door was finally opened, an attendant nodding in acknowledgment as they passed out into the hall and waved her in. She allowed them a tolerant smile and shut the door behind her, eyes adjusting to the dim lighting while she took in her surroundings. "Good, there you are. I was beginning to worry that you'd had a change of heart."

The demon turned slowly as the voice reached her ears, wordlessly examining the leader of the fledgling Sound Village where he sat in a chair, an open book abandoned on his lap as he returned her gaze. She bowed with perfect decorum, asking with wounded dignity, "Why would you think that, my lord? Have I given you reason to doubt me?"

Reptilian eyes narrowed briefly, the mind behind them pondering an answer to this question. "Others have told me that you would not have the strength to do as I asked. So tell me, did you?"

"It cost me greatly, my lord," the Nekomata said, removing the hilt of the zanbatou from her sash and holding it out for consideration, "but Yamada Taiki is quite dead. I made sure of it."

The sight of what remained of the giant blade elicited a sharp indrawn breath of admiration from Orochimaru. "Of course you would. So, is that the proof you brought of your act, or do you have something else to show me?"

"Just one other." The Cat reached into her tunic for the cloth-wrapped bundle, well aware of the intense scrutiny placed on her actions and what they revealed. "I would apologize for the crude presentation, but I did what I could." She dared a step forward to place the bundle in his outstretched hand, then darted back just out of reach while waiting for reaction. "This was his pride and he was willing to murder anyone who harmed it. I took it while he was yet living, my lord, and it gave me great joy."

"As it should have." Orochimaru held up the mass of ebony hair, glossy and smooth even after it had been separated from its owner, and turned it in the low lighting to get a better look at it. After a few moments he re-wrapped it and set it aside with a satisfied smile, returning his attention to the young woman in front of him. "Don't be afraid to approach me, Kotori. You've earned your place and my trust – now come closer, I'd like to see just what kind of a gift has been given to me."

The Cat stepped forward, dropping her gaze demurely to the floor. "It pleases me to please you, my lord. If there's anything else…"

"You are excellent the way you are, and I am merely looking to see if I may improve you." Putting his book aside, Orochimaru rose from his seat to more closely consider his subordinate. "Such obvious physical conditioning, paired with the supreme power of the Two-Tailed Cat demon – that is hard to beat, but I may yet have something to offer."

Kotori, suppressed as she was in the back of her mind, could not block a trill of unease as the older man began to slowly walk behind her, placing an oddly chilly hand on her shoulder. "Whatever it is, my lord, I am sure I am unworthy," the demon was saying, ignoring the protests of her host. "If there is some flaw that I am unaware of, you have only to let me know and I will do my best to fix it."

"No, there's nothing wrong. Now, for what I have in mind, I only give it to those in whom I see potential for greatness. The last one who possessed this gift died before his time and until now I've seen no successor." Kotori inwardly shivered as the hand on her shoulder moved to brush a lock of her hair aside, and she screamed for the demon to beware. "There is a risk that you too may die, but I think that your strength will help you to survive. Relax, this will only take a moment."

Out of the corner of her eye Kotori could see the man's neck extend and twist unnaturally, bringing bright and glistening fangs to bear on her unprotected chest. Agony spilled through her being as the fangs punctured skin, and she felt her will melting away under the strength of the venomous burn. _What – the hell – is this? Stop him, you useless furball!_ she gasped to the demon. _It's bad enough with you in here, I don't want him in control of me – _

_Like he said, relax, _the demon growled, likewise struggling for control of the girl's seizure-wracked form. _You're mine and mine alone. I share with no man, certainly not this freak of nature._ Then all went black, both demon and human unaware of her unresponsive body being carefully lifted and moved to recline comfortably on their host's own bed.

The initial shock of intrusion had since passed, but the girl still trembled from time to time as she fought off the infection of the cursed mark. Orochimaru stood to one side, watching in open fascination as the three curved lines of the Gaia seal appeared in stark relief against pale skin, the recipient's shivering intensifying as the mark grew darker. She gave one last violent twitch, body tensing as if in rigor mortis, and then subsided with a weak moan. The mark faded from view, leaving only pale scar tissue as evidence of its existence, and Orochimaru made an intrigued noise. "It seems I've miscalculated," he muttered, reaching down to feel for a pulse at wrists and neck and nodding when he detected a weak flutter of surviving life. "Still, this one will be interesting to work with. So much left to discover…"

-------

"Jiraiya! Long time no see, friend!" Satoshi beamed when he saw the older man, immediately putting his work aside so that he could properly receive his guest. "I'd heard you were around, but I never thought you'd show up in my part of town. Come on upstairs, have a drink with me, and tell me some stories!"

"Sorry, but I don't have the time." Jiraiya leaned up against the shop counter, rubbing his eyes in fatigue. "I'm on my way back out again and I wanted to ask you a question."

The Kurogata patriarch tugged at the ends of the tape measure draped around his neck, face creasing in concern as he wondered just what matter of importance his colleague had come to discuss. "I retired years ago and I'm not as up to date as I used to be, but shoot."

This at least merited a chuckle. "I know, you have quite the menagerie around here. That's what I came to ask about, though – it's about your oldest daughter. Is she normally such a pain in the butt, or is she going through one of those weird teenage phases?"

Frown deepening, Satoshi followed Jiraiya's look through the shop window out to the street where the girl in question and her male attachment stood, backs studiously turned even though they were painfully aware the adults were talking about them. "Naeko? Oh god, has she been bothering you? I might need to smack her around a little bit if that's the case…"

"No, I'll take care of that if need be. She'll be coming with me for the next three years, but only because she wouldn't untie Naruto until I agreed."

The last phrase took a moment to filter through Satoshi's brain, resulting in a look of incomprehension as he tried to piece the information together. "She – she tied him up and held him hostage?"

"That's right. I couldn't get him loose, either. What've you been teaching her?"

Satoshi finally grasped the scenario and burst out in hooting, breathless laughter. "Nothing that you should worry about, Jiraiya," he said when he could finally speak, "just that she's finally got it! It's the thread that's as strong as the will of the person that controls it, and it took me years to master it. Something must've really pissed her off for her to get it to work, but now that she's figured it out, there's nothing she can't do." Shaking his head with a rueful grin, Satoshi patted Jiraiya on the shoulder and added, "Take care of her, old man. There's not much else I can teach her."

"So you're just going to let her wander off for three years? You may not like what comes back, if she comes back at all."

Satoshi looked back to his daughter, now laughing at a humorous comment from Naruto, and his smile turned sad for a moment. "But isn't that the case with everyone?" Fixing his features into stern resolve, he strode over to the shop door and shoved it open, causing both youth to jump at the sudden noise. "Well, Naeko, don't you have some packing to do? Get your butt in here and get it done – I'm sure these guys have better things to do than stand around and listen to you flap your jaw."

Naeko stared up at her father incredulously, then bounded up to him and wrapped him in a fierce hug. "Thanks, Dad. I promise I won't disappoint you."

"You never have," Satoshi replied, smacking her head in mild reproof. "Now get a move on."


	7. Not What I Expected

**6 Not What I Expected**

_Lasting Scars of Failure_

Taiki had lost track of the time that he had spent in his arduous journey. It was a matter of luck that he'd found the road so soon, even luckier that he remembered which way would lead him back toward friendly civilization. Now he stumbled along the path with what shreds of energy he had left, crawling when his legs failed him and then finally collapsing into a senseless daze, all the while leaving a trail of blood behind him to mark his passage.

Night had fallen a second time when he heard the purposeful rustle of muted footsteps near his shelter. With swimming vision he made out the form of Kabuto, twilight reflecting in his spectacles as he knelt to confirm this latest development. "So you aren't dead after all," he muttered, reaching into a pack for bandages and other equipment with which to treat Taiki's wounds. "How interesting."

As mistrustful as he was of Kabuto, Taiki was not about to turn down medical help in his current condition. "But – you don't get it. She killed me. I – I was dead – "

"And you're hallucinating as well. She must have worked a number on you, didn't she? Now be quiet and save your energy." After stabilizing the worst of the injuries, Kabuto turned his attention to the other wounds left on Taiki. "Multiple lacerations… and what are these?" He peered down at the bruises on Taiki's neck, squinting puzzledly as he tried to figure out their source. "Strangulation, but with what?"

"Prayer beads," Taiki muttered, raising a hand to his throat and wincing at the throbbing pain he felt there. "You wouldn't believe me, of course."

"I'd believe anything short of a miraculous resurrection," Kabuto replied, "seeing as neither you nor Kotori are familiar with the techniques necessary either to reverse death or to fake it." Satisfied that he'd prevented the worst from occurring, the medic-nin began to stow his gear. "It's most interesting that you're alive, though, after she'd sworn that she'd killed you and no doubt has delivered the same news to her new master. Wouldn't it be unfortunate if he found out otherwise?" A wide smirk as panic registered on Taiki's face, then, "Oh, don't be stupid. It's to everyone's advantage – at least on my side of the table – if you stay dead. I've done what I can to patch you up, but you'll have to take care of the rest yourself. It's time for me to head back and have a talk with our resident hellcat."

Then, before Taiki could protest, Kabuto had gone as suddenly as he'd appeared. With a defeated sigh, Taiki heaved himself back upright and continued lurching down the path, praying that further assistance would arrive before his strength ebbed once more.

-------

"What do you mean, we have to look for another place to camp?" Naeko complained, shooting a dark look at Jiraiya. "I'm still hurting from last night's little nap on the rocks. There has to be someplace nearby where we can stay."

"Spoiled," Jiraiya muttered under his breath, then added in a louder tone, "I thought a self-sufficient girl like you would be used to roughing it. Don't tell me a little bit of sleeping under the stars will ruin your delicate physique."

"Forgive me if I'm a bit rusty on my survival techniques." She kicked at the soil and grumbled something nasty when she stubbed her toe on a rock. "And I'm hardly delicate!"

"I'll believe that any day…"

This sort of bickering had been going on for the past three hours and, tired of listening to it, Naruto had wandered a few paces ahead to see what lay before them. An odd darkened patch on the ground now caught his eye, so he stopped to take a closer look. A similar spot was found not far away, another beyond that, and he decided to follow this trail to its end. That did not take long, and when he parted the foliage to see what had left the trail his eyes widened in surprise. He turned back towards the other two – walking in silence, having expended their rancor for one moment – and yelled, "Hey guys, take a look at this! I think he's dead!"

This announcement diverted the attention of the squabbling pair, Naeko dashing from the path to join Naruto in staring down at the body. "He looks kinda familiar," she mused, kneeling to get a closer look at the claw-scarred face. A second later, she was scrambling away backwards in fright, the others staring at her in puzzlement. "That's Taiki! My god, what happened to him?"

Hearing the voices so close by, Taiki forced himself to be alert and opened his eyes. "Kotori happened," he rasped, struggling to sit up and failing. "How far are we from the village?"

"About two days' walk," supplied Jiraiya, who had likewise broken from following the road to see what the commotion was. If Taiki's degree of injury startled him, he did little to show it other than with a slight frown. "But I think I can get you back quicker than that."

"We'll get you fixed up, Tai-kun." Naeko ventured to stroke his forehead comfortingly but retracted her hand when she saw the extent of the damage that had been done. "Don't worry, okay? You're safe now."

-------

_Good god, I hurt all over…_ Kotori opened her eyes, surprised to be back in control of her own body so soon and half-dreading finding out just what had happened while she had been unconscious. Her chest throbbed like she'd been sliced open, and something else that she couldn't quite place ached as well – not a physical pain, but something more ethereal that was beyond her ken at the moment. _Well, guess it's time to assess the __damage, _she grumbled and raised her head to verify her surroundings.

"What the hell?" Unlike many of the other times she'd lent her body to the demon, it appeared to have passed unmolested on this occasion – all of her garments were still in place, and the only marks on her skin came from the rejected curse seal that had been placed on the flat of her chest a hand's width below her neck. "What's going on?"

"A medical anomaly," remarked a chillingly familiar voice from next to the bed. Kotori sat up in startlement only to see Kabuto seated calmly in a chair, not even glancing up from the magazine he read as he answered her inquiries. "By all rights, you should be dead."

_Evil Minion Monthly?_ Kotori wondered, spotting the title of the magazine just before Kabuto closed it with a snap and moved it beyond her view. "But I'm not. Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, no problem at all. Just be glad Orochimaru-sama likes you and that I still have uses for you, or you would be strapped to a table being prepared for dissection."

The word _uses_ made Kotori flinch, and she narrowed her eyes at the impassive medic. "Just what do you mean, 'uses'? I didn't swear allegiance to you."

"True," Kabuto said, smiling in the manner that Kotori found especially unnerving, "but I just happen to know something that would get you into deep trouble." He leaned forward, lowering his voice so that only she could hear, and whispered, "Your friend isn't dead."

This news shocked Kotori more than anything else in the recent past had, causing tears to spring unbidden to her eyes. "You're kidding me, right? I killed him myself, and I made sure he was gone before I left."

Kabuto shrugged. "I don't lie in matters like this, especially when I stand to benefit. You may have thought you killed your friend, but somehow he didn't stay dead. I'll leave that for you to figure out." That said, he rose from his seat and turned to leave. "I would suggest you find someplace else to be before _he _gets back. One can never guess his moods."

"No arguments here," Kotori muttered, forcing herself to move even though her limbs felt like lead weights. Nothing good had come to her in this room, and she was not about to tempt fate again by staying.


	8. Shared Hell

**7 Shared ****Hell**

_The Burden of Someone Else's Pain_

"They should reserve this spot for me, considering how many times I've parked here." Jiraiya leapt down from the back of the toad and disappeared into the hospital, leaving the others outside to watch and wait.

It wasn't long before he returned with a medic team and a stretcher. The toad opened its mouth and laid its burden down carefully with as close to a disgusted expression as could be rendered on its amphibian features, and the lead medic burst out laughing at this. "I don't think an ambulance service came in the contract!" he said, but his cheer vanished when he saw the extent of the injuries sustained by the young man before him. "Who patched him up?"

"We don't know," supplied Naeko, dropping to earth with Naruto not far behind. "When we first found him, we thought he was dead."

"And he very well could have been if someone hadn't gotten to him. He's very lucky to be alive, and we'll do what we can to keep him that way!" The medic team then carried Taiki away, and it was all the female member of the group could do to keep her composure.

Angry tears welled in Naeko's eyes as she struggled to contain her emotions. "D-damnit all to hell!" she stammered, glaring at the hospital's entrance through which her former teammate had been taken. "Why do my friends have to be such freaks?"

"You're not the only one," grumbled Naruto, shooting a _what__ do I do now?_ look to his senior, who rolled his eyes and mimed putting an arm around someone's shoulders. The boy uneasily followed this advice and was further startled when Naeko started crying in earnest. "Um…"

"Why don't you keep an eye on him and let me know how things go?" In the face of such a serious turn of events, Jiraiya had abandoned his usual tools of sarcasm and strained patience and now took authority. "I need to go and pass the word on about this. If I remember right, that young man is the son of someone important, and this could get nasty if it's not handled right." Climbing back atop the toad once more, he waved once in dismissal. "I'll send for you once we're ready to head out again, okay?" Then, without waiting for reply, the old man and his unlikely transportation moved off on their next errand.

Oblivious to her senior's departure, Naeko sniffled once or twice and wiped her nose in an attempt to appear calm. "I'm going to go inside and wait for news. You don't have to come along if you don't want to."

"Nah, that's okay." Naruto gave Naeko one last squeeze around the shoulders, then moved for the entrance of the hospital. "He's your friend, isn't he? Come on."

-------

"What do you want? I thought we'd just gotten rid of you."

Jiraiya looked to make sure no one was in the near vicinity of the office before shutting the door and turning to face Tsunade. "Bad news again, I'm afraid. We've got another bad case in the hospital, and it's more complicated than I wanted to believe."

Tsunade sighed and leaned back in her seat, spreading her hands in a helpless shrug as she considered the possible avenues this conversation could take. "Aren't they all? But since you seem so worried, tell me about it. It's not like I've got anything else to do right now."

-------

Word spread fast of the new arrival, and soon Naruto and Naeko were not alone in their waiting outside the intensive care ward. Takeshi and Satoshi arrived almost at once, the former a picture of simmering wrath and the latter weighed with worry, and neither seemed inclined to ask for particulars as to what had happened. A tense hour passed with scarcely a word between the four, and then the silence was punctured by the clatter of panicked footsteps as Hinata appeared, flushed and out of breath. "I j-just heard," she stammered, shooting an anxious look at the glowing light that signified an ongoing surgical procedure. "Is he going to be okay? Who did this to him?"

Takeshi was about to answer but instead dimmed his dark words to a mere growl under Satoshi's chastising gaze. "We don't know," the elder jounin replied in place of his protégé, "but I'm sure we'll find out."

A scream ripped through the air from beyond the closed doors, a tortured shriek that grated on the ears of all present. It lasted for almost a full minute before dying out, and of the entire group only Satoshi appeared reassured. "That didn't sound like a dying man, that's for sure," he muttered, "and I've heard a few. It also sounded human, so we don't have to worry about possession like we did the last time he was about to die. Calm down, everyone. He'll be just fine."

-------

"We've only just started recovering from the invasion," Tsunade growled, clenching her fists, "and then he goes and pulls something like this! Didn't he know that the boy he wanted dead is the adopted son of the Raikage?" She thumped one of her hands on the desk in agitation, causing the wood to tremble. "Still, we've got no choice. The Cloud Village has to know."

"And they aren't going to be happy, either. How are you going to tell them?"

Tsunade opened one of the desk drawers and pulled out a fresh piece of paper. "How else? I'm going to send their boy back to them along with a message explaining what happened. Things may have not been the best between us in the past, but hopefully they'll believe us when I tell them we had nothing to do with this mess."

Jiraiya gave her a dubious look, watching as she began to write the first lines of the message. "And what if they don't?"

A smile lit Tsunade's face, a smile that her familiars knew better than to trust. "It'll be your job to convince them. You've got a way with words, don't you?" She glared off the beginnings of a protesting grumble, adding, "Use whatever part of your brain that isn't perverted, however small that may be. I know you'll come up with something."

-------

As she'd promised herself upon her return, Kotori settled back into her own quarters to rest and recover from her mission. It was ultimately an exercise in futility as her mind refused to wind down, turning round in circles of confusion over the information she'd received compared to the events she'd experienced. Her body likewise refused to settle, every fiber battling the remnants of the domineering infection that had been so forcibly introduced to it. Some separate agony now afflicted her as well, setting her body on fire with unbelievable misery that left her trembling and damp with perspiration as she fought to stay lucid and sane.

"What the hell is going on, Cat! I thought you said you were going to help me out with this," she rasped at one point as a fresh set of pains seized her. "If anything, it's worse than before. At least I was unconscious then…"

_True,_ the Nekomata replied in strained tones, _but as always there's only so much I can do. I've gotten rid of most of the seal and its effects, but the rest is up to you. As for the rest, that's not me. I don't know what it is, but it's definitely not me._

"Then what in great bleeding - " The rest of Kotori's complaint was cut off as a new pain sliced into her lower abdomen, almost as if someone had impaled her with a physical blade. Sudden realization of the source of this sensation jolted her back into lucidity, and she would have sat up if she'd had the strength to do so. Taking a deep breath to slow her racing heart, she closed her eyes and carefully reached into the corner of her mind that she'd kept barricaded since her defection, the partition that once removed would reestablish the strange connection she'd felt with Taiki. "I don't know what I'll find," she whispered aloud as she steeled herself for whatever lay beyond. "But it's worth the risk."

With this resolution in mind, Kotori edged the barrier aside – and immediately regretted it as unanticipated levels of torment sluiced through her like magma. Her hands frantically clutched for an anchor to hold her steady, tangling in the blanket beneath her and gripping tight while her mind scrambled to raise its trained armor of icy calm. Even with this support, it took Kotori a full five minutes to get her body under control and after that she could not muster the energy to do so much as tremble in revulsion at what she'd felt. _He's alive!_ She did not dare to voice the thought aloud, sensing her guts go leaden at the confirmation of Kabuto's suggestion. Yet, as much as she was afraid of discovery, she felt a small twitch of joy somewhere in her core that she nonetheless smacked down like an errant insect._ That means that_ _I failed! I failed in my mission, and I'm happy about it? What kind of a person am I? _

_A sadomasochist who can't make up her damn mind,_ the Nekomata interjected, an odd voice of calm in the midst of Kotori's inner unrest. _Do you go __out of your way__ to inflict pain on yourself and others? Do you get some sick thrill from it? And while we're asking questions, are you a killer or aren't you?_ _If you are, quit looking for sympathy.__I have precious little left for you as is._

Kotori twitched in affront to the demon's candor but found that she had no basis to argue. She instead swallowed in a dry throat, noting a sickly taste that took her a moment to identify. When she correctly placed it as equal parts bile and blood – the first from nausea, the second from howling her throat raw – she forced herself upright and tried to get up from her pallet so that she could go and find some water with which to slake her thirst and to rinse her mouth out with. The first try met with failure, but the second was more successful, and with wobbling steps Kotori made her way to the door. "So much for rest…"


	9. Even the Evil Have Spare Time

**8 Even the Evil Have Spare Time  
**_Kotori Seeks a Masterwork, and Taiki Goes Home _

_One month later _

"And the final cut – right there," muttered Kotori under her breath, moving her blade against her target. Severed limb parted from host body, and the girl neatly picked it up and disposed of it in a nearby trash can before returning to consider what she'd done. Satisfied in her completed work, she settled back into her seat with a happy grin and contemplated the miniature tree in its pot, daring anyone to challenge her aesthetic motives in the shaping of the plant. "Perfect."

A discreet cough from the open door alerted her that the courier she'd sent out a month earlier had returned. "I'm sorry to disturb you, Kotori-san, but I have information for you."

Fully aware of the courier's unease, Kotori turned in her seat to face him. "You're not disturbing me at all – if you have the news that I want."

"Well… yes and no." The courier stepped through the doorway at Kotori's beckon, closing the door behind him. Casting a nervous look from the miniature tree on the room's lone table to the petite young woman and her inscrutable smile, he took a message tube from a pouch attached to his belt and handed it to her. "It took me some time to track down a craftsman who met your criteria, and even longer to convince her that working with you would be worthwhile."

"I can see why, considering how little information I'm willing to give at this point," Kotori muttered, opening the message and scanning over it. "Yui, huh? Where does this Yui person live?"

"In Earth Country, not far from Hidden Rock," the courier answered. "She comes from a long line of master-class artisans and learned the art of metal-craft from her father. I'm not a swordsman, but I think her work speaks for itself."

"We'll see about that, won't we?" Kotori nodded dismissively to the courier, who bowed and left her alone with the message. "To the esteemed servant of Sound, I send greetings," she read aloud, raising an eyebrow at the salutation and reading further. "Your courier has explained your situation to me and, while there are details I yet lack, all will be settled. I will take your commission under three conditions. First, you will take what I choose for you, even though it may not be what you originally wished for. Second, you will stay until the work is complete, however long it may take. Third and lastly, you will not question my methods. Payment will be discussed upon completion of the commission, and after that is finished our contract will be finished. If you agree to these terms, I will expect to see you in no later than one week's time; if this is not met, I have other projects to work on and will expect you to seek your weapon elsewhere. Regards – Yui."

Beneath the scrawled text, Kotori found a hastily drawn map that showed her destination, and beneath that a postscript. "One final thing that I forgot to mention: my nephew is staying with me on vacation from his work, and I hope this does not present a problem. He may be an odd boy from time to time, but he sends his word that he will not be a bother."

"Okay, I guess," Kotori muttered while rolling up the message. "Now to let the higher-ups know I'll be taking a small leave of absence…"

-------

"It's a good thing I didn't bring much with me," Taiki mused, taking one last look around his now-emptied apartment to make sure he'd gathered everything that belonged to him. "I don't think I'll be coming back, either."

"Are you sure about that?" A quiet voice at his elbow made Taiki jump, and he turned to see Hinata waiting patiently for him to notice her. "Are things really that bad here?"

Taiki wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close to him, drawing a deep sigh and trying to choose his words carefully. "It's not that, Hinata-hime. Depending on how well my dad takes this, I may not be allowed to come back."

A rare expression of anger clouded Hinata's features, and she glared up at Taiki. "It's not our fault that your _friend_ defected and tried to kill you. If your father can't see that, then I don't know why he's in charge of your village."

This last elicited a wince from the Cloud-nin. "There's more to this than you know, Hinata. Don't be so quick to judge." Taiki fished the key to the apartment out of his pocket and looked at it for a long moment, then set it on top of a table where it could be retrieved by the landlord. "No matter what happens, I'll make sure I can see you. Does that make it any better?"

"No! No, it doesn't," Hinata replied and, before she could stop herself, added, "If you can't come back, then take me with you."

Untangling himself from her, Taiki turned and walked out of the apartment, his voice only barely audible as he made his way down the hall. "Absolutely not, Hinata. I won't allow it."

Irritation building, she ran after him and grabbed his arm to halt him. "Why not? I can take care of myself, you know. I won't be a burden to you."

The abyssal look in his black eyes chilled her to the core as he looked back over his shoulder at her. "Have you forgotten your past that easily? Things have changed in my village, but not much. The acts of the Hyuuga aren't forgotten and you wouldn't be safe."

"But - "

"But nothing." Taiki flung her grip off with a twitch of his arm and continued on his path. "I won't have someone else that I love risk their safety for me, and that's final." He bit his lip to counter the sudden sharp pain he felt in his chest as he walked away, thinking, _There's enough blood on the ground, and I know there'll be more. I won't let it be hers._

That had been one month ago. It had not taken him long at all to recover once the surgery had finished, although he felt a strange residual pain afterwards that he could not place. At first he'd thought it merely an echo of his own injuries – after all, it hurt in all the same places – but then the ache had transformed into something else entirely. It had started out as a sudden stabbing pain in his chest that radiated out through his body like a rampaging infection, but blood tests and other examinations revealed nothing different. There was no wound, no traceable illness, just pain – and then, almost as if someone had flipped a switch, it was gone.

Taiki had not thought to reveal this to anyone, believing it to be part of his body's reaction to sudden revival after equally sudden termination. That in itself had left incredible scarring that refused to fade, from the jagged slice across his abdomen to the paler ghosts of scratch marks across his face. The only thing that had gone back to normal was his hair. He'd long since suppressed the spasms of anger he felt each time he looked in the mirror, but there were other sources of irritation that were harder to quell. Taiki had been traveling for a month, moving at a fraction of his usual pace, and even the efforts of his traveling companions did nothing to cheer him. It was when he asked them to let him walk the final steps of his journey alone that they knew they'd never see the cheerful young man from Kumogakure again…

-------

_"After all, not all of us can cough up a sword out of our gut."_ Kotori snickered when she remembered the effect these words had on the few that had heard them – a scowl from Sasuke, a flinch from Kabuto, and a long silence from Orochimaru that was finally broken by a low chuckle when he'd realized what she referred to. "Always do your research," the young woman mused aloud, pushing up the brim of her hat to look around. She'd traded the distinctive attire of the Sound Village soldier for a more common look, and so far it had done her well. None had recognized her on her journey, and the few that had taken a second look were frightened away by the aura of singular deadly purpose that cloaked her and soon found someplace else to be.

As further precaution against being inadvertently recognized, she'd traveled at a relatively normal pace and, as a result, it had taken her almost a week to reach her destination. Kotori would have missed the dwelling had it not been for the brief description on the map, carved as it was out of the surrounding cliff face in a manner almost indistinguishable from the surrounding terrain. If she listened, she could hear the hiss and bubble of molten metal as it was cooled with water, and occasionally a great cloud of vapor rose from a cleft in the rock.

"Well, guess I'd better check in," Kotori muttered, picking her way up the uneven path and then stopping short when she noticed another person standing in the main doorway, eyes narrowed as they studied the new arrival. "Um, hello?"

It took Kotori a moment to decide whether this person was the one she sought, returning the stranger's scrutiny in a flash-quick glance. Ice ran through her veins when her eyes closed in on the hands – ordinary hands at first look, holding a raggedy-looking broom in their grip – but the nails had been painted with an immaculate coat of purple lacquer, and Kotori could barely make out the shape of a ring on the right index finger. _Bloody hell! _she thought, feeling the raw fear in her core as the Cat hissed in terror and shrieked for her to either fight or run, just do something to get away from this person –

"You must be Auntie Yui's latest customer!" The voice at least identified the stranger as male. "Come on inside and make yourself at home. She's been waiting for you, yeah?"

"Hell _no,_" Kotori growled, backing slowly down the way she'd come even as the stranger looked at her in puzzlement. "You're one of _them_. I'll have nothing to do with you."

The stranger realized where she'd been looking, following her gaze with his own and then chuckling. He waved one hand in a dismissive gesture, Kotori blanching when she saw a second mouth – teeth and all – centered in the palm. "Relax, will you? I'm not going to hurt you."

"Like I'm going to believe that." Kotori tensed herself for combat, glaring at the stranger while she tried to guess what would happen next. _Get ready, furball. This might get ugly._ "One of you has been assigned to kill me, and why wouldn't it be you? This is all too convenient!"

One visible blue eye rolled in exasperation. "I'm on vacation, yeah? I'm not here to kill you - "

"Bullshit!" Kotori drew the jagged shard of the zanbatou still affixed to its hilt, the one weapon she knew best how to use even in its decimated state, and made ready to charge. "Psychopaths don't take vacation!"

All pleasantness vanished from the man's face as he considered the visitor. "I saw you a mile away, Kotori-san. If I'd wanted to harm you, I'd have done it already."

"And you still expect me to believe you." Kotori adjusted her grip on her weapon to compensate for its change in mass and balance, took a step forward. "This ends now, even if I have to splatter your guts all over the ground…"

Both then froze when they heard a loud grumble from indoors, followed by an admonition in a gruff but undeniably female voice. "Dammit, Deidara-kun, I told you not to get her riled up."

"I didn't do anything to her!" Kotori registered the man's name and his indignant reaction as he quickly stepped aside to make room for the speaker. "I told her that I wasn't going to hurt her, but she didn't believe me, yeah?"

"Oh, knock it off. Go back inside and get us all some tea, will you?" The woman made a disgusted face as she viewed the scene, ignoring Deidara as he stalked back inside with a sigh. "And you…" She glared at Kotori and her ravaged blade, then continued. "Calm down - no one's dying here today if I have anything to say about it. My name's Yui, by the way, and that was my nephew."

Kotori blinked as she realized who she was speaking to, hastily dismissing her weapon and bowing in respect to the master craftsman. "Kotori of Clan Yamataki, formerly of Kirigakure and Konohagakure - "

Yui waved a hand in much the same dismissive gesture that Deidara had, Kotori breathing an audible sigh of relief when she saw that it was a normal hand, undistinguished save for the calluses of heavy labor. "I know who you are, Kotori. I do my research. So, the Snakecharmer wants a new weapon, huh?"

"Snakecharmer?" Kotori barely heard herself repeat the word, realizing that it referred to her and once again feeling a chill when she realized why. "Is that what they call me now?"

"That and the Butcher of Sound, especially after what you did to your friend. What else?" Yui gave her visitor a thoughtful look, noting the beads of sweat standing out on the younger woman's forehead as she took in the news. "Oh yeah. 'Traitorous bitch' is another choice phrase I've heard tossed around here and there. So tell me, Snakecharmer, are you happy now?"

"Happy?" Kotori gritted her teeth, feeling the first sharp stabs of pain radiating from the seal on her chest. "Happiness doesn't figure into it."

Yui frowned when she heard this. "Of course it does, but perhaps I should ask a better question before we begin. Do you regret any of your actions?"

Her vision swam as the fire of before, barely held in check by the demon and now shocked loose by emotional upheaval, flooded through her body and caused Kotori to fall forward into the dirt. She had just enough energy to turn herself onto her back, gasping a single word – "Yes" – before going completely unconscious.

The swordsmith's frown lessened somewhat as she considered her visitor, muting into the smallest smile while she thought over that simple phrase. "You do, huh? Interesting. Now we can get started…"

-------

"Oh, good, you're back!" Taiki's adoptive father Kazuki glanced up from the paperwork on his desk and smiled brightly when he saw the figure framed in the doorway. "Have a seat while I get these finished, and then you can tell me all about your travels." He dismissed his retainers with a pointed glance and beckoned Taiki over. Without thinking much about it, Taiki reverted to habit and slumped into the chair placed near the desk, its comforting confines bringing memories of a far more pleasant time to the surface as he sat.

A few moments of silence passed as the Raikage finished his tasks, affixing an official seal to one document and marking another for review. When at last he was done, he turned in his seat to consider his son. "Your letters told me so much, but I know there are things you didn't mention. And that deal with the Hyuuga clan – well! I never thought I'd live to see something like that. People are still talking about it around here and can't wait to see how it'll play out." He noticed the pensive expression on Taiki's face and sighed. "All right, Son, I know that look. Spill."

Taiki frowned and looked up, the iron in his gaze puzzling to the older man as Taiki chose the right words to express his thoughts. "You may or may not have heard this, Father, but Kotori defected to Sound shortly after the invasion." This elicited a flinch and pained nod. "She was given orders to kill me, and she succeeded. Don't ask for details yet, just listen." He paused just long enough to make sure he was understood, then resumed. "Her action in itself is an act of war. I will treat it as such and respond accordingly, whether you support me or not."

Kazuki sat back in his chair, carefully composing his features so as not to reveal his reeling thought processes. "Don't be a fool, Taiki. We can't afford to waste your talents by having you run off on a suicide mission, which is exactly what this sounds like."

The frown deepened into a scowl that emphasized the scarring of Taiki's features. "Then what would you have me do? I can't – no, I _won't_ let them get away with this."

The Raikage sighed once more, betraying his age in the slow manner that he rose from his seat. "I will meet with my advisors on this, Taiki. Promise me that you'll at least wait and hear what they have to say."

This reply was not what the younger man wanted to hear, but he nonetheless acquiesced in the face of authority. "I will listen, but I may not obey. If Otogakure wants a fight, then I will bring them a fight."


	10. Intermission: Fallen, but Not Forgotten

**9 Intermission: Fallen, But Not Forgotten**

_Interviews with the Dead – Ayumu, Goubatsu, Katsuo_

_We return once more to the interview table. The room is dimly lit, and Taiki sits alone with a stack of cue cards by his hands._

**Kotori. **_(off-camera)_ Ready whenever you are.

**Taiki.** _(clears throat)_ Right. Well, folks, welcome to another special commentary track. In light of traditions honoring those that have gone before, as well as recent plot developments, I thought it would be interesting to give some of our dead folks a chance to talk. I'll be asking most of the questions, but feel free to jump in, Tori-chan.

**Kotori. **_(muttering)_ You do realize you're going to have to give them a body, right? And mine is not an option.

**Taiki.** Don't worry, I've got it figured out. _(closes eyes, focuses, and exhales deeply)_ First up, a lovely lady from the Hidden Cloud Village. Mind introducing yourself?

_(A dark-haired, slightly older woman fades into view next to Taiki, looking shocked and surprised to have a physical form again. She spends the next few minutes poking a dubious finger into her limbs and torso to see if this is indeed real before Taiki clears his throat again. She jumps in __startlement__, then grins sheepishly and looks to the camera.)_

**Ayumu. ** Oh. Hello, all – my name is Ayumu, formerly of Clan Doshaburi. Like he just said, I'm from Kumogakure. Along with my husband Kazuki, I helped raise Taiki and set him on the path to who he is now.

**Kotori.** What kind of impact do you think you had on him? Did you teach him anything?

**Ayumu. **_(looks to the floor for a moment, then speaks quietly)_ I had an impact, all right. He killed me when he was only three years old. Where do you think he got his abilities from? I was the last of my clan to carry the Jyusshi-no-Youma bloodline – Ten Fingers of the Demon, or Shadow Hands as you call it, I guess – and we thought it died out with me. _(a pause, then)_ But we all know it didn't, now did it?

_(Taiki goes pale and looks elsewhere, obviously uncomfortable with this line of conversation. Ayumu rolls her eyes, sighs, and reaches a hand out to pat him on the shoulder.)_

**Ayumu. **Don't be silly, Tai. It was bound to happen sooner or later, and I don't blame you for any of it.

_(All is silent for a few minutes afterwards. Taiki awkwardly claps his hands and forces a smile)_

**Taiki. **All right. Time to bring our next guest out…

_(He repeats his focusing gesture of earlier, and a second form shimmers into view. He lacks arms and bears a ragged scar across his throat from an earlier wound.)_

**Goubatsu. ** Hey, man, what's the big idea? I was in the middle of a nap, you know… having a nice dream where I was watching Tori-chan in the bath. Did you know that she's got a birthmark on her – _(Kotori clears her throat warningly, and Goubatsu makes an impish face at the camera)_ Dunno why you're so upset, Kotori. You let that other guy use you for books and movies and stuff…

**Kotori. **But at least I get paid for that.

_(an interjectory cough from Taiki)_

**Taiki. **There'll be plenty of time for that later. Okay, Goubatsu-san, I'm sure that anyone who's read this far has a pretty good idea of who you are. Why don't you tell us something that we don't know about you?

**Goubatsu.** Hmm. Well… _(grins ruefully)_ I hate to say this, but it's kind of embarrassing to be killed by someone in your own family. That's a story for a rainy day, though…_ (He gives the camera a foul look)_ The least you could've done is left me with a hand so I could get to my flask. Some of the best booze from here to eternity, separated by a vindictive teenager with a big sword…

**Kotori. **_(coolly)_ You said nasty things about my mother. Pardon me for my lack of remorse.

_(Ayumu gives her ghostly compatriot an intrigued look)_

**Ayumu.** You make moonshine, Goubatsu-san?

**Goubatsu**. _(grins proudly)_ Yep. I mean, when we're not busy slaughtering innocents and otherwise causing mayhem, what else is there for us Mist folks to do? I'll tell you what, we can throw a mean party. Add some homemade rocket fuel to the mix and it's pure gold! I and my products have been responsible for salvaging more relationships than any self-help book on the shelf… _(winces)_ and for causing a few things to happen that probably shouldn't have. _(He gives Kotori a pointed look before falling silent)_

**Kotori. **_(grumbling, almost inaudible)_ I dare you to say that when you actually have a body, freak…

_(Taiki slaps his hands down on the table in an impatient gesture, trying to return everyone's focus. It works, but only to a limited extent.)_

**Taiki. **Okay, folks, now for the main event. It's nice to see both of you in the, um, flesh, but that wasn't my real reason for calling you here. I'd like to ask you a few questions, and you'll answer them as honestly as possible.

**Ayumu.** _(nods)_ Of course.

**Goubatsu. **_(sullenly)_ Like I have any other choice…

**Taiki.** There are worse options, trust me. _(pause)_ First off, what are your thoughts on being dead?

**Goubatsu. **_(disdainful snort)_ You ask that like we're supposed to be enjoying this. Oh well. It's inconvenient, I guess, but I'm learning to deal with it… it's like forced bed rest, you know? I want to be out there doing stuff, but it's my turn to sit back and relax. I'll live.

**Ayumu.** It's nice in a way not to really have to worry about what happens to you, because it's over and done with, but that doesn't stop me from worrying. It's not as peaceful as you'd think, because you're forced to watch as everyone goes through their lives making the same mistakes that you did and not learning from them.

**Taiki. **Anything that you wish you had or hadn't done while you were alive?

**Ayumu. **I wish I'd been able to warn you about your abilities, Tai. No one deserves to learn their talents the way you did.

**Goubatsu.** I'd have kept Emi away from the damn punch bowl.

**Taiki.** One last question, and then you're free to go back – any advice for those of us still living?

**Goubatsu. **Um, yeah. Nothing good comes from inbreeding, and I'll leave it at that…

**Ayumu.** Choose your words and actions carefully, because you're never guaranteed a second chance.

-------

_(The view fades to black for a moment. When it returns, there is a third man sitting alone in front of the table. He wears the traditional black garb and green flak vest of the Konoha elite, minus the distinctive leaf-branded headband. He holds something in his hands, but it is hard to tell what.)_

**Taiki. **_(off-camera)_ Thank you for agreeing to this, Katsuo-san. I know you normally don't make public appearances.

_(The man grins, and if one looks one might see a resemblance to his younger brother Takeshi in the set of his smile and direct gaze. There is a shadow of some darker emotion in his eyes, though, and he hesitates over his words when speaking.)_

**Katsuo. **Damn right I don't, and even if I did, who would listen to what I had to say? Hell, the only one that does is that punk brother of mine, and that's only when he's drunk off his ass. I'm dead and gone, and everyone's moved on without me. _(He looks down to the object in his hands, then tosses it on the table with a sigh. It is his missing headband, the leaf mark bisected with a horizontal slash.)_ Emi has, and so has Kotori. It seems I left before I could do any good. _(pause)_ Are they going to see this?

**Taiki. **_(hesitantly)_ I – I think so. Why?

_(Katsuo takes a deep breath to calm __himself,__ and the smile turns into one of quiet patience.)_

**Katsuo.** All right. Here goes, then… Emi, I know what you did while you were gone, and I'm willing to forgive you. It's not like I've got anything else to do now. And Kotori… Kotori, you're fine just the way you are. No matter where you came from or where you go, you shouldn't have to prove yourself to anyone. Remember that and I'll be proud.

_(He fades away without farewell, and there are a few seconds of silence before the camera is shut off. No further footage follows.)_


	11. Six in the Front, Seven in the Back

**10 Six in the Front, Seven in the Back**

_On the Road with the Pervert, the Flake, and the Clueless_

"So this is the way it's always been - " Naeko caught one fist in her hand and flung it away from her "you guys find a place to stay" she brought up her arm to block another hit "then he tells you to go and train" a drop to her haunches to avoid a third strike "while he goes off to do his pervy old guy thing?"

"Pretty much," replied Naruto, stepping back to reassess his tactics against this new foe. "And then when I find him, he's usually peeping in on the girls' bath or in some stupid club, spending all of my money - " A low kick across the shins knocked him to the dirt. "Hey! That's not fair!"

"What's not fair? The fact that I hit you?" Naeko swiped one hand across her forehead and slid into a ready stance to await Naruto's next attack.

"No – just that I feel bad if I hit you back!"

"Really." Naeko hopped to one side, neatly dodging another ill-timed strike. "You feel bad about hitting me because I'm a girl?" She reached down, seemingly to adjust a strap on her sandal, but in fact testing the knot on a simple trap that she'd set during his distraction. "Or is it because I'm your girlfriend?" Her preparations complete, Naeko made an obvious show of reaching into her waist pouch for a combat tag and slapped it on a nearby tree. She faded into stealth, using learned speed to maneuver into place behind him. "Face it, Naruto, one day you might just have to kill me!"

"What the - " Naruto jumped to avoid a jabbing feint from Naeko, realizing a split second later that he was headed straight for the tag that she'd placed only moments earlier. "What's up with you?" he snapped, twisting away to safety. "This isn't like you at all!"

"Don't you see it? My friends tried to kill each other, and one succeeded! I don't know how she pulled it off, but she did." Naeko nodded to herself in satisfaction as the rope trap found its prey, snarling around his ankle and pulling him out of action far into the air above. She flopped down to the ground, watching Naruto swing back and forth and noting with surprise that he seemed almost used to this kind of thing. "If you can't even trust your friends anymore, then what is safe?"

"Tell me about it." Naruto shot a dark look down at the dark-haired girl on the grass beneath him. "Let me down, will ya?"

"Sure." Naeko idly tossed a knife at the knot that bound the trap in place, loosening the rope and letting her prey fall down to earth. She was fatigued enough from their exercise that she didn't think much about his trajectory until she heard his shouted warning from above her, his arms and legs frantically windmilling to avoid a collision. Naeko skittered back on hands and feet but was unsuccessful in dodging this final assault, breath forced from her in an ungraceful grunt as she took the brunt of Naruto's landing. "Son of a... _ow_," she growled after a moment, lifting her head and massaging the growing bruise where she'd slammed her skull into the dirt. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah," was the reply, mumbled into Naeko's chest. "Soft..."

Naeko made a face and rolled Naruto away, sitting up and dusting herself off while she checked herself for injuries. "I forget, it takes worse than that to sideline you." She then wandered back over to the tree and peeled off the tag she'd placed there, grinning as she showed it to her companion. "I still can't believe you fell for this, Naruto-kun."

"Fell for what?" Naruto squinted at the tag and the intricate script within its borders, scowling when he made out the message – _'It's fake, idiot'_ – and giving Naeko another dark look. "You don't play fair, do you?"

"It's not my fault that you can't tell the difference between a real tag and a dummy, dummy," replied Naeko with a grin and replaced the tag in her waist pouch. The rope was retrieved next and stored in short order. "Why don't you go find that pervert and ask what he wants us to do for dinner? I need to take a bath."

-------

"Yes, nice, now just turn a little bit to your left... I'd say you rate about a six in the front, a seven in the back. Cute until you open your mouth, and then it's bitch bitch bitch - " Sensing a familiar presence behind him, Jiraiya grumbled, "What do you want, kid?"

"Doesn't that get old for you?"

"Never does," Jiraiya replied, adjusting the focus on his binoculars. "Even for an expert like me, there is always new ground to break."

"Uh-huh," Naruto muttered, thoroughly unconvinced. "Did you spend all of my money yet, or is there something left for me to get dinner?"

This at least merited an irritated noise. "Hold on a second, will you? I'm not finished." A thought occurred to him, accompanied by a devious smile as he lowered the binoculars and scribbled a few notes. "Maybe you're just jealous because I've seen your girlfriend naked before you have."

"Yeah, yeah, that's what you always say – _hey!_" Naruto reflexively glanced over his mentor's shoulder to see what the older man had been looking at, words failing at the vista offered even without mechanical assistance. "That's... her..."

Jiraiya patted his student comfortingly on the shoulder. "Yep, that's her. Not bad at all..."

-------

"So this is how he makes all of his money." Raising an eyebrow, Naeko turned to the next page. "All I can say is that he'd better pay Tori-chan really well if he's using her like this. Still, the writing's not half bad for two degrees off smut..." The main door to the room they'd found for the night slid open, and from the lighter tread Naeko guessed it to be Naruto returning from one of the town's many restaurants. She hastily closed the novel and slid it under her pillow, tucking her bathrobe in tightly before rising from her futon to confirm her guess.

A simple partition split the room into two halves, one for sleeping and another with a small table for eating meals, and it was at the table that she found Naruto, partially obscured by a gargantuan pile of takeout boxes. He'd opened one and now contentedly plowed his way through its contents, only glancing up when he heard footsteps from the other half of the room. His reaction was immediate – the blood drained from his face as a none-too-distant memory surfaced in his mind, and it took most of his restraint not to gag on the mouthful of noodles he'd just taken in. "N-Naeko-chan..."

"Yes, it's me," Naeko replied, giving him a puzzled look as she settled opposite him and tried to figure out the cause for his sudden seizure. "Are you okay, or did you land harder than I thought?"

The color returned to Naruto's face just as suddenly as if he'd been splashed with red paint; he swallowed the noodles with an awkward gulp and nodded. Painfully aware of the deepening puzzlement aimed his way, he gestured to the pile of boxes and mumbled, "I brought some food back for you if you want it."

"Don't mind if I do. I didn't realize just how hungry I was until now." Naeko took a pair of chopsticks from the top of the pile and opened one of the boxes, making a pleased sound when she saw what it was. "I found bruises all over the place when I was in the bath," she mused around a bite of seasoned pork, watching her companion carefully for a reaction to this statement. "Not that I mind being an air mattress in times of need, Naruto-kun, but let's try to keep it to a minimum." This brought on another coughing fit, and Naeko let out a triumphant hoot of laughter. "You were peeking on me, weren't you?"

"Not on purpose," Naruto returned quickly, scrambling to keep one step ahead so he would not be trapped by Naeko's sharp reasoning. "It was the pervy sage. I went to get money for dinner and he was spying on the girls' bath – I couldn't stop from looking!"

Naeko sat back on her heels with a disgusted frown. "So he was using me for his 'research', huh? What an ass." She sighed, took another bite of her dinner, then asked, "Well, did he like what he saw?"

Naruto stared in open astonishment at this question, hesitant to reply for fear of giving the wrong answer. "Uh... he said the front was a six, the back was a seven... and that you're cute until you start talking." Spotting a brief flash of what could only be violent anger in her green eyes, Naruto got ready to duck under the table and was surprised when her only visible reaction was to flex one of her fists hard enough to snap her chopsticks in two. "Is that bad?"

A sweet smile took the place of her frown, albeit with darker underpinnings that made something squirm in the boy's gut. "No, not bad. I think I know just the thing to deal with him." Seeing the continued worry radiating from across the table, Naeko waved it off dismissively and rummaged for another set of utensils. "Don't worry, it won't affect you. At least, it shouldn't."

-------

_Slam._

An alcoholically-charged yawn, then wavering steps across the threshold. A faint scrabbling as the drunk fumbled to close the door behind him, then -

_Slam, mumble, streeeeetch..._

"Wha' the hell..." Blink. A hand-swipe to refocus vision made blurry by age and drink, clear enough to see that one of the pallets was empty and that the second was occupied by a boxers-clad blond youth who lay closely entwined with a barely-clothed girl. "I gave you money for food, kid, not loose women... Shame on'ya, 'specially at your age..."

The girl opened one eye long enough to see who this latest entrant was, scowled, and pulled her sleeping robe shut. "I resent that, especially coming from a guy who fritters away his student's money on cheap hookers and equally cheap booze," she retorted, rising carefully from her place so as not to disturb her bedmate. Bringing her hands together, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply so as to focus her energies, then flicked her fingers through a series of three gestures and struck the older man on the arm with her open palm. _"Akugyou, kansen!"_

A dull ache radiated from where her hand had made contact, and her target chuckled. "You obviously need some more training in taijutsu, dear. You couldn't hurt a fly with a hit like that."

The girl grinned as she settled back onto her own futon and arranged the covers so she was comfortable. "You'll see, Jiraiya-sama. Just give it time..." She then lay down and fell soundly asleep once more, perhaps to dream of the havoc that lay in store.

-------

**Note:**_"Akugyou kansen" - _literally "bad karma infection"


	12. Creeping Torment

**11 Creeping Torment**  
_The Wrath of the Girl with Bad Karma_

"What the hell did I _do_ last night?"

Excessive drink had allowed Jiraiya some semblance of peaceful sleep, but the afternoon had arrived with an almost tangible _thud_ in his brain with the searing intrusion of sunlight and a headache of which like he'd not experienced for decades. The room had been mercifully empty when he'd woken up, his apprentice and the other genin gone out on errands of their own and thus not present to witness the significantly reduced persona of the Toad Sage. A bath and a change of clothing restored a fraction of his humanity, but a headache still nagged him and with this in mind Jiraiya now staggered forth in search of remedy for his ailment.

"A little hair of the dog ought to do it," he reasoned, unaware of the looks now being given him as he made his way into one of the few alcohol-serving establishments that was open at this time of the day. He hitched himself up onto one of the stools and lifted his hand for the barkeep to see. "Hey. Something small and not too strong for now, would ya?"

The barkeep took one look at this rather raggedy customer, then glanced down at a note that had been tacked to the counter by the register. He swallowed nervously, then answered, "Um, I'm sorry, sir, but I can't do that."

Jiraiya glared at the other man with the bleary, unfocused menace of the recovering drunk. "What do you mean, you can't? All I want is a beer or something. Sheesh."

"Not until you pay your tab, sir."

The headache returned with a sudden kick to his forehead, and Jiraiya winced. "That's a first. Are you sure I can't just get a beer, or maybe a shot?"

"I have my instructions." The barkeep, having been in the same situation as this customer, felt a pang of helpless sympathy and muttered, "So sorry, sir. Maybe they can help you down the street...?"

-------

"Absolutely not."

"No sir, not today."

"We don't have anything left. You cleaned us out..."

Variations on this theme played out through the afternoon and into the early evening; by that time Jiraiya's headache had faded but his irritation remained at much the same strength. "So I guess my choices are either to pay up or to stay home," he grumbled as he walked out of the most recent business to close its doors to him. "And since staying home is not an option - " He reached into his tunic for his passbook, knowing that there would be enough to solve his predicament, and frowned when his hand came up empty. "Well, crap. Where did I put it?" A quick search of all other pockets and folds of his clothing met with the same result and, grimacing, he turned back in the direction of his lodging.

-------

"Are you sure you don't want another bowl?" Naeko asked as she watched Naruto mournfully gazing into the empty depths of his latest serving of ramen. "I mean, I don't think there'll be a problem if you do."

"I can't afford another. I've already used up the allowance that Ero-sennin gave me when we got into town." Naruto idly twirled his chopsticks in one hand, frowning as he visualized his empty wallet. "And he's already spent the rest of my savings on booze and women, so it's not like I have anything left."

Naeko smiled and raised her hand to get the waitress' attention. "I've got us covered, Naruto-kun. Besides, you need your energy for training, don't you?"

For once Naruto found something vaguely disquieting in Naeko's smug assurance, but quickly tossed this aside when faced with the promise of free food. "You're right. I think I'll have miso ramen this time!"

-------

"Okay, so it isn't in the pants I wore last night. Where is it?" Jiraiya had returned to the room that he shared with his younger companions and now proceeded to tear it apart, certain that he had left his passbook somewhere within its confines. After rifling through the few belongings that he'd brought along, he turned his attention to Naruto's somewhat roomier travel pack and tore through it with much the same fervor. "I'd know if someone stole my passbook, so that can't be what happened."

His eyes next fell on Naeko's pack, and they narrowed in suspicion. "She has it. All of this is her fault, it has to be…" Reluctance flashed through his mind at the thought of violating the young woman's privacy, but he quashed this with a determined scowl and pried the latches open on her pack. "Hell, I've already seen her naked, so there shouldn't be too much of a surprise in here. If nothing else, she's probably got some cute undies…"

-------

_Twelve bowls of ramen. I think that's a record for one setting, and he shows no sign of stopping!_ Naeko thought as she made a mental tally of the food consumed during their evening meal. "Want some more?" she inquired, noting the awed expression on the face of their waitress. "You could probably go all night if you wanted to."

Naruto let out a pleased belch and pushed the latest installment away, then leaned back and stretched expansively. "Nah, I think I'm good for now. Thanks for dinner, Naeko-chan. You're the best!"

Naeko shrugged, doing her best not to blanch in shock as the waitress handed them their dinner check. "Don't thank me," she muttered, taking her prize out of her tunic and double-checking the figures to make sure she was right in her boasts. She breathed a muted sigh of relief when she realized that there was plenty of money left to back up their indulgences, then concluded the transaction and finished her last cup of tea.

In a rare flash of observance, Naruto caught a glimpse of the item now resting on the table near Naeko's hand and gasped in shock. "That's – that's his money that we're using! Isn't that wrong?"

Naeko glanced down at Jiraiya's passbook and made a noncommittal noise. "No more so than confiscating your student's rightfully-earned funds, granting him a pitiful sum for his own uses, and squandering the rest on the vices you've cautioned him to avoid." She put her teacup down and noted the latest deduction on the book's pages before tucking it away for safekeeping. "Turnabout's fair play, isn't it, Naruto-kun? Besides, I need some new clothes."

-------

"What the - !" Jiraiya yanked his hands back from the deceptively simple tie that sealed Naeko's luggage closed, growling something foul when he saw that his hands were covered in a bright blue and rankly odorous dye. The tag that had released this deterrent fluttered to the floor and disintegrated in a puff of smoke, a faint echo of the stench that now radiated from the older man. "You obviously anticipated this," he muttered, giving the pack a dark glare that promised violence in its future. "For a girl with no talent, you have a surprising number of tricks up your sleeve."

A quick trip to the restroom erased most of the pigment from his skin, but did little to remove the stink. This did not deter Jiraiya from his task; he returned to his study of the pack with renewed vigor, vowing to loose its contents. "That has to be the worst of it," he mused, studying the knot with the expertise afforded him by his advanced years. "No rope gets the best of me!"

-------

"I don't care how hot you gentlemen think it is," Naeko said, sorting through a stack of assorted scanty undergarments, "but you would not catch me in anything resembling dental floss. That's Kotori's department." She held up a lacy specimen for Naruto's inspection, nodding in satisfaction as he hastily clamped a hand to his nose and tipped his head back to halt the betraying trickle. "Cat demon or no, she's a bit… loose, but I at least have my principles," she added, taking her selections to the cashier to finish her shopping. "Thoughts, Naruto?"

"I can't believe you're using Ero-sennin's money to buy new underwear," Naruto replied, gagging on the stray drops of blood making their way down his throat and casting a significant glance towards the safe haven of the shop's front door. "That's just mean, isn't it?"

"He exploits women and preys on the baser instincts of men in order to sell his pornographic drivel," replied Naeko calmly, taking her wrapped purchases from the cashier and leading Naruto by the elbow back out into the street and a less hazardous environment. "Granted, it's addictive pornographic drivel, but the principle remains the same. I find an odd kind of justice in using his dirty money to further my own evil schemes. Now come on – I think he's probably at his wit's end by now and could use an intervention."

The rogue nosebleed had since stopped, giving Naruto time to process what had just been said as he was tugged along down the street. "Wait a minute – you read his books?" he stammered, unwilling to believe this latest information. No reply was given, though, and he was left to wonder as they made their way back to the inn and almost certain disaster.

-------

"It's just a granny knot! How can it be so hard to untie?" Jiraiya fixed the unyielding rope with an expression usually reserved for the deadliest of foes, flexing fingers that now throbbed from as-of-yet-unsuccessful attempts to part the cords binding Naeko's pack closed. He sighed, closed his eyes in momentary defeat, then opened them again to stare at the rope with new focus. "You evil woman! Don't tell me this is another one of your damned clan secrets…"

He heard the scrape of the door opening and closing, the muted conversation as his protégé and their companion returned from their day's activities. "It'll come out into the open now," Jiraiya grumbled as the voices drew closer, rounding the partition that separated their sleeping area from the main room. "Either she has the passbook, or she knows who does."

The footsteps now paused, the silence broken by a distinctly feminine noise of disapproval. "Jiraiya-sama, what's the meaning of this?"

Jiraiya looked back over his shoulder to see Naeko standing directly behind him, Naruto not far from her with a vaguely disgusted expression crinkling his face. "What stinks?" the boy wondered, sniffing the air and waving a hand in front of his nose.

"Someone set off the anti-theft tag I put on my bag." Naeko gave Jiraiya a searching look, the older man doing his best to keep his hands and their betraying tint out of sight. "Although I don't know why. It's not like I have anything to hide – right, Jiraiya-sama?" Her last words, laced with venomous sweetness, found their mark and caused an uncharacteristic blush to rise in the older man's cheeks. "So tell me - were you looking for this," she withdrew one of her recent purchases from its bag, dangling it just out of reach and savoring the covetous stare it earned, "or this?"

Naeko then took the passbook out from one of her belt pouches, flipping it open so that the most recent entries were visible. Jiraiya squinted to see just how much had been spent and lunged for his property, snatching it easily from Naeko's grasp and quickly stashing it away from further violation. "I knew it was you! Where's your respect for your elders, girl? Spending an old man's precious funds on… on…" He retrieved the passbook and glanced into it to read the latest deductions. "Ramen and lingerie!"

"I don't see you complaining overmuch," Naeko answered, crossing over to her pack. Whispering a word under her breath, she tapped the knot that held it shut and then untwisted the knot, parting the fibers easily and slipping her acquisitions into its protective hold before re-fastening the closure.

"Bringing you along was a mistake, that's for sure." Jiraiya rose from his place on the floor mats and stalked past the two genin, slamming the door open and striding out into the hall.

"Out to the club to do some more research, are we?" Naeko called after him, catching a fresh whiff of his fragrant aura and grinning in spite of herself. "Good luck, sempai…"


	13. Deep Regret

**12 Deep Regret**

_Earth's Gift to a Swordsman of Mist_

Kotori awakened to merciful darkness, a damp cloth cooling her brow in addition to a gentle breeze that wafted over her sweat-slicked skin. Opening her eyes to slits so as not to betray her wakening, she took stock of her surroundings – the clammy chill of earth around her, a crude pallet beneath her, strange cloth against her skin, and a faint mineral tang of clay that gave her cause to sit up with a sudden jolt. She squinted into the darkness and beheld the man who had given her a fright earlier now sitting at the edge of her bed, holding a paper fan in one hand and flicking it back and forth to provide the chill she now felt. Heart stuttering in panic, Kotori cast about for anything she could use as a weapon to defend herself, only to be met with a rueful grin. "I told you I'm not here to kill you, so calm down," Deidara muttered, the occasional gust of wind from the fan fluttering the strand of hair covering one side of his face aside.

Kotori was secretly relieved to note that his face was at least normal, compared to what she'd seen of the rest of him, but did not say so aloud. "You had us worried there for a while, yeah? Auntie Yui told me to keep an eye on you to make sure nothing happened to you, and I guess we got lucky."

"So you're really not here to capture me and take me back, or whatever it is people like you do to people like me?" Kotori glanced down and saw that her traveling garments had been replaced with a simple robe and pants, blanching when she noted the lines of the curse seal standing out in stark relief against her skin. _It's still there! I thought I was done with this…_

"I've got another assignment to take care of once I'm done here." Deidara rose from his seat at the edge of the pallet and offered a hand in assistance for Kotori to stand as well. "Someone else will come after you when the time is right. In the meantime, it's in everyone's best interests to keep you alive."

Giving Deidara a skeptical look, Kotori nonetheless accepted the proffered hand and shivered as she felt the auxiliary mouth brush against her skin in a crude impression of a kiss. _Freaks, all of you,_ she thought, detaching herself as soon as she found her feet. "Keeping me alive for whoever comes next," she muttered. "Whoever that may be."

The unpleasant atmosphere was broken by a barking cough of interjection. "What is it with you, Deidara? You have the worst way with women." Yui entered the room, stopping only to glance over Kotori from head to foot and grunt approvingly. "Good, you're still alive. I was afraid that we'd lost you." She gave the curse seal a sour look and continued, "Whoever did that to you is a dick, plain and simple, and I'd hate to see what it does to you once you've got it all sorted out."

Kotori looked down once more to the three curved lines and felt a shiver of revulsion when she recalled the chain of events that had led to their appearance. "You're not the only one," she murmured, unconsciously raising a hand to cover the mark. "Trust me on this."

Yui nodded in agreement, then lifted a hand in a casual beckoning motion. "Well, now that you're awake and lucid, I think there's someone you might want to meet. Come on."

-------

The forge reminded Kotori of nothing so much as the gut of some infernal beast as she crossed its threshold, having followed Yui through a maze of warren-like halls and twisted staircases and wondering with each step just what the smith had in mind. Finally they came to an isolated room lined with racks for almost any type of bladed weapon imaginable, more of a showroom or storage room than a crafting area, and it was to one of these racks that Yui pointed. "On the far left, Kotori. That's her, and she's been waiting to see you for almost a week now."

"A week?" Kotori blinked. "How long have I been out?"

"Try three weeks." Yui patted the younger woman on the shoulder, at the same time giving her a gentle nudge forward. "But that's given me more than enough time to work, and I think you'll like what I've come up with. Now go on."

Kotori followed the smith's directions and approached the indicated weapons rack, noting that it did not hold swords or any similar armament, but rather different kinds of staves and glaive-like implements. Pausing for a moment to consider her choice, she took the chosen weapon from its slot and hefted it in her hands, feeling the cool grain of polished wood against her palms as she did so. Seven feet in length from spiked butt end to glistening blade tip, it was smaller than the sword Kotori was accustomed to, but at the same time seemed to thrum with malevolent energy similar to that which her original weapon had possessed. "It's… different," she breathed, stepping back and swinging the polearm in a tentative arc. "Why did you choose this?"

"You have changed, Kotori," replied Yui, watching her latest creation in the hands of its intended owner and grinning. "Whether you admit it or not, you are not the same girl that left Hidden Mist. Do you feel it in your blood, in your bones?" Her gaze followed the star-bright glint of the polearm's lethal blade as it sliced through the air, guided by expert hand and eye. "As the wielder changes, so does the weapon. Her name is Tsuusaki, by the way, and you might say she's your sister."

The blade-tip paused hair-widths away from its maker's throat as its master considered. "Sister? What do you mean?"

"I used some of your blood in the forging so that the tie between user and weapon would be deeper." In spite of death hovering breaths away, Yui allowed her grin to widen. "After all, she's named for your regrets. I think you two will get along just fine."

Kotori moved the blade away from Yui, lifting it instead in salute. "I am in your debt, Yui-san. Speaking of, how much will this set me back?"

"It rests in the hands of the one that deserves it." Yui returned the salute with an idle hand wave. "After all, the weapon in the hands of a master is a tribute to its creator, is it not? Use her well, and I'll consider your debt to be paid."

-------

After binding the polearm into a fresh summoning scroll for ease of transport, Kotori wasted no time in departing Yui's dwelling to return to her own home. She felt a set of watching eyes on her even as she made her way back down the path, but saw no one when she glanced around to find the watcher. Then on impulse she looked up, spotting a lone bird in the clear sky that circled gently on the breeze. She passed off the creeping sensation as excessive paranoia and continued on her way, unaware that the creature aloft was as alive as the stone around her and instead bore a watcher of flesh and blood that observed her with a mechanical gaze.

Though she now possessed a new armament, Kotori yet carried the hilt of her destroyed sword in her sash like a talisman that she was afraid to abandon. And even though the memory of the sword and its destruction bound her to caution, the calluses on her palms and fingers itched for the pressure of the polearm's smooth grain against her skin; her muscles cried in remembrance of the weapon's fluidity as it sliced through the air, and something in her core ached to feel the blade carve into flesh under her direction. In spite of the horror of her last kill, Kotori realized that she still craved blood and quietly marveled at this renewed change in heart.

She did nothing to hide this new predatory aura as she traveled, relishing how the few passersby she encountered now recoiled in open unease as she walked past. Some grumbled disapprovingly, others made warding signs against evil or whispered prayers. _Let them,_ Kotori thought. _Even if their words are futile, they bring some small amount of comfort before hell opens._

_------- _

The cold cordiality afforded her by the other denizens of Sound renewed when she returned one week later, this time layered with an undercoat of suspicion as to what she had accomplished during her absence. Kotori took the time to bathe and once more clothe herself in her proper garments, the cold water doing little to soothe the agitation that now spread like a slow-burning fire through each particle of her being. It did not help that the Cat now stirred, irritated at the denial of her usual week's worth of release, now festered and seethed with repressed desire and hissed her dissatisfaction unceasingly in the shadows of Kotori's mind.

Her wish for action did not go unanswered. No sooner had Kotori re-settled in her quarters and prepared for an afternoon nap than she heard a none-too-courteous rapping on the door. She rose to answer it and found Kabuto standing in the hallway, studying her in a way that made her nervous. "I was about ready to go to sleep," she snapped at him, feigning anger to cover her unease. "What is it?"

"I see that you have returned from your little errand," the medic-nin replied, gaze lighting on the renewed curse mark and eyes gleaming in ill-concealed fascination. "I would hope that you were successful."

"What does it matter to you?" Kotori, noting the track of his eyes, adjusted her shirt so that less of her chest was visible. "My business is my own."

"And that is where you are quite wrong. A servant's business is never their own, in case you've forgotten." Kabuto re-settled his glasses with the middle finger of one hand in his usual manner, Kotori wondering if the rude gesture this formed was intentional. "But I digress. Our master wishes to see what treasure you've brought back from Earth Country and has ordered you to appear in the prison courtyard to demonstrate its use. You have ten minutes to attire yourself as you see fit, and do I even need to ask you to prepare for a fight?"

Kotori suppressed the urge to rub her hands together in anticipation, instead compressing her features in careful neutrality. "Fine. Then, as one servant to another, I hope you will not be too offended if I ask you to leave now."

-------

Having robed herself for battle in the sleeveless tunic and loose black slacks she wore as a Sound soldier, Kotori tucked the new scroll into her sash and made her way to the prison courtyard. _I wonder what he's planned for me,_ she thought as she leapt down from the balcony down into the open space below, noticing that most of the doors bore broken seals and now stood empty like so many gaping mouths. Faded bloodstains spotted the floor in random patterns, occasionally forming the outline of a foot or a hand or – if Kotori squinted – a body. The stains were recent but not new, and she could only guess at their cause as she waited for further orders.

A door scraping open nearby caused her to turn, and the fire in her blood arose anew when she spotted her habitual antagonist crossing into the courtyard to face her. A split second's worth of observation noted no significant change other than a new sword sheathed in the Uchiha's belt, and her years of training allowed her to form a likely guess as to the blade's identity and properties. _Similar to the Kusanagi carried by the snake-bastard,_ she mused, reaching for the scroll in her tunic and calling forth her new weapon. The metal almost sang as it tasted air, and Kotori's pulse trilled with glee when she saw Sasuke's eyes narrow in apprehension. "Not what you expected, is it, Uchiha?"

Sasuke finished his observations of the weapon - a fanglike blade of deceptively thin bluish steel affixed to a black wooden shaft and capped with a wicked spike of the same metal – and allowed himself a small smile. "Not much of a Swordsman now, are we?"

"Whether armed with a zanbatou or with a naginata, my spirit and my skill remain the same." Kotori shifted the weapon into a two-handed grip held at a diagonal cross to her chest, awaiting his next move. "I take it our lord wishes a contest."

"He does, but did I need an excuse?" Drawing his blade in one smooth motion, Sasuke sprang forward.


	14. Vulgar Displays

**13 Vulgar Displays**  
_Power and Its Pursuit_

"Not to question your judgment, sir, but I'm beginning to think this was a bad idea." Kabuto could not hide a wince as the naginata, held in the more-than capable hands of Konoha's latest defector, slashed out in sure aim for Sasuke's abdomen. Its edge was already slick with its foe's blood gathered from gashes in arms and thighs, and the red fluid liberally decorated the formerly snow-white tunic of its bearer. To be completely fair, though, it could not be said that Kotori was in the best of shape. Speed and training had allowed the Uchiha to score several hits of his own, including one to the lower torso that bled copiously. Pain wicked through her body not just from this wound but from the seal on her chest, power that ached to be released but was held back by the vigilant efforts of the Nekomata. This struggle was immediately visible to the two observers on the balcony, played out not only through the determined clench of her features but also in the twitch and ripple of muscles that barely cooperated with their master's commands.

"I understand your concern, but I think we really have nothing to worry about." Orochimaru leaned forward to more closely observe the fight below, a small smile on his face growing as Sasuke tracked the swing of the polearm and stepped just out of its reach. "Besides, I find this whole arrangement to be subtly amusing. Don't you?"

"What about it?" The sword flashed in the dim light as it scored deeply into the flesh of Kotori's hands, spattering both combatants and their immediate surroundings with a fresh coat of blood. Pain flared across her face and she involuntarily loosened her grip on the weapon, which was then sent flying from her hands with another forceful strike. "They hate each other, and you've given them a chance to express it. The results can't be good."

"Why must you be so negative?" Orochimaru chuckled at the light of desperation that now shone in the young woman's eyes, wondering at the mental interplay that brought this on. "It is true that she sees him as silly and stubborn to a fault and that he sees her as an annoying obstacle to be destroyed, but this gives us a chance to see how far they are willing to go when given a chance to obliterate their enemy."

"But Kotori is still fighting the effects of the seal and it's limiting her abilities. She's going to die if you don't call this off." Kabuto inhaled sharply as Kotori fell to her knees in torment, the collective pain from injuries and other aggravations becoming too great for her to ignore or counter. Sasuke raised his sword for what would surely be a killing blow -

-------

_Dammit, Cat, keep fighting it! I have to win this or no one will take me seriously again._ Kotori shuddered as she hit the pitted stone floor of the courtyard, cursing the resurgent effects of the seal and the knowledge that she lacked the ability to stop its spread. _And I refuse to let myself be beaten by this one. He won't let me live it down, and if there's something I can't stand, it's someone else's overinflated ego._

_It's infected me too. I can't stop it anymore, _the Cat rasped, sounding feverish and ill. _Your best bet is to just give in..._

_------- _

"Don't be so quick to judge." Orochimaru clapped his hands in enjoyment as Kotori suddenly went still, her muscles slackening as if the mind behind them had finally given up. Down came the sword in an executioner's stroke, homing in on the unprotected flesh of Kotori's neck with killer instinct, its wielder allowing himself to smirk at the thought of victory so close at hand. For a fraction of a second it seemed that another corpse would be added to the pile that had fallen on this floor, and then in another fraction of a second the girl disappeared from view.

The smirk turned to a scowl when Sasuke saw that his prey was gone, gaze flicking from spot to spot to try and figure out where she had run to. A heartbeat later she was in front of him again, hands closed around his lower arms to halt the sword only inches away from its initial point of descent. Her fingers flexed once, snapping his left wrist in an act of brutal simplicity that brought back a ghost of humiliating memory along with renewed pain. His throbbing fingers could not sustain their hold, and the Kusanagi clattered to the floor behind Kotori who kicked it away out of reach. Sasuke blanched at the animalistic bared teeth so close to his throat, then felt a further chill when he saw glowing marks of released might blazing across the girl's skin in a crude mimicry of feline stripes. "Be a dear and give up now, why don't you?" Kotori whispered in a raspy purr, tightening her grip. "Much as I'd love to slaughter you, I don't think our master would be very pleased if I broke his vessel beyond use."

"Never." Inky swirls of the same fell energy bloomed from the seal on the Uchiha's neck and he used the surge in strength this brought to break free from Kotori's grip. "Don't you see what a fool you are?"

Kotori hopped back a pace, stretched first one arm and then the other in anticipation of renewed combat, savoring this fresh feeling of power and a part of her wondering why she'd fought it so vigorously. "Takes one to know one," she retorted, releasing the safeguards that held her demon in check and allowing the Cat to come into control of her body. "But now we'll see who's truly the fool!"

-------

"There was a method to my madness after all," Orochimaru continued as the pair began to exchange blows once more. "Now that she's accepted my mark, she's all mine." He then returned his attention to the melee, following each move with deepening fascination. Kotori now bled openly from a split and swollen lip, the blood trickling down over her chin and dripping onto her chest, but this proved an easily overlooked inconvenience as she parried and countered each following assault. In spite of the additional boost of power provided by his released curse seal, Sasuke now seemed to waver in his attacks and stumbled in his attempts to dodge the fanged fiend bent on his death. His skin now took on a deathly pallor from wounds that refused to heal, and an easily avoided kick instead sent him tumbling to the floor. He pushed himself to his hands and knees, gasping in effort as he strained to push his seal to its next level of power.

The marks spread with shivering slowness across the remainder of Sasuke's body, echoing his struggle to marshal a chakra network that had been brutally mangled. Kabuto observed this difficulty from his place on the balcony, frowning as he tried to figure out the cause and making a startled sound when his wandering gaze fell upon Kotori's discarded weapon and reached a startling conclusion. "The naginata – it cuts through chakra also?" He quickly turned to Orochimaru, who watched the fight with what could only be described as hunger – although for what, his assistant could only guess and shuddered at the answer – and cleared his throat to get the older man's attention. "She's going to kill him unless you stop this now! Don't you see it?"

"Beautiful, wouldn't you say?" Orochimaru turned away, moving for the stairs that would take him to the courtyard and the fight so close to ending.

-------

"Who's the fool now?" the Cat shouted, laughing when her opponent's attempts to raise his power sputtered and failed and the young man collapsed back to the floor. "I told you it doesn't matter what weapon I hold, or even if I have one! I've been trained to battle since I was old enough to crawl, but who are you?" She crossed to her fallen foe and flipped him onto his back, contemplating the best way to finish this fight. Settling on another brutally clean strike, she raised her foot with intent to crush the young man's neck in one swift stomp. "Who cares if you have those magic eyes? You're just a sniveling little boy who is ultimately blind to the big picture!"

"You may stop now."

The four words would not have been enough to halt her had they been delivered by anyone else, but the Cat now turned to face her master with a look of disbelief. "Master, Uchiha Sasuke is a waste of space with a bad haircut. You would be doing the world a favor if you let me eliminate him."

"You have done well, but I did not ask you to kill him." Orochimaru glanced down to the now-unconscious form on the floor, then looked back up to where Kabuto waited on the balcony and nodded once in unspoken summons.

The medic-nin leaped down to the courtyard and moved quickly to check the fallen youth's vital signs, then gave Kotori a disgusted look as he picked up Sasuke in a fireman's carry. "He'll be fine, but only if I move quickly. Please excuse me." He then trotted off, his burden leaving a trail of crimson droplets in his path.

"I'll have to ask someone to clean that up," the older man murmured, inhaling deeply and smiling at the rich aroma of fresh blood on the air. Another scent, chemical in nature to the analysis-trained mind, wove in with the tang of iron and turned to perfume totally at odds with the scene of carnage, and with a blink Orochimaru realized it originated from the combat-weary girl at his side. As he watched, the stripes of the released seal receded to reveal a motley pattern of scrapes, cuts, and rapidly purpling bruises, and the feline form faded as well to leave Kotori in her human body, now frail in comparison to the cruel skill it had displayed moments earlier. Her left shoulder oozed red from the opened demon-seal, adding to the damp crimson ruin of her once-white tunic, and he could hear her pained hiss as she forced a bow of subservience. "A lovely piece of work. Go ahead, stand up – no need to hurt yourself further on my account."

Kotori straightened slowly, grinning even as it stretched the freshly-healed split in her lower lip. "Are you pleased?"

"Very." Without thinking much as to why, Orochimaru reached down to wipe the dried blood from the girl's chin. "Although I do hope you realize what would happen if you ruined my vessel." He paused for a moment to let the implication sink in, only to be startled when Kotori absently shrugged. "The idea intrigues me, but let's just hope it doesn't come to that." Reptilian eyes considered the girl and her injuries, the worst of which had already begun to heal. "We'll leave Kabuto to his work – come with me, and I'll take care of you myself."

-------

It was only when Taiki felt a gentle but firm touch on his shoulder shaking him to awareness that he realized that he'd been screaming. Sitting up in bed, he pushed the covers away and touched a hand to his chest to see if the wound that had given him such pain was still there. He expected his fingers to come away glistening red and stared when he saw that they were clean, and he looked up to his adoptive father in shock and amazement. "It's her," he breathed, struggling to come up with words to explain when he saw Kazuki's puzzled expression. "Kotori. I just saw her – in my mind – and she had this mark on her chest. She was fighting – someone, and it was like she was also fighting to stop the mark from spreading. Finally she just gave up and let it take over." Shivering at the memory, he added in quieter tones, "It changed her, more than anything I've seen."

Kazuki's concern deepened when he gathered that this had been no ordinary nightmare. "Sounds like a curse seal," he mused. "Orochimaru experimented with different marks and their effects. I heard from the Leaf Village that one of the survivors of the Uchiha clan was infected with such a seal shortly before he defected, but to put his mark on a demon vessel..." He shook his head and sighed. "A vulgar display of power, and one that cannot be allowed to survive. Much as I hate to say this, Son, I agree with you now. Sleep while you can, because I think this will be one of our last nights of peace for a long time."

Taiki nodded and lay back down, closing his eyes once he was alone once more. He could not go back to sleep, though, so he reached for the connection he'd felt with his former teammate and quietly assumed a place of observation in the back of her mind. Envisioning a quiet, comfortable place – a mental lounge of sorts, complete with an easy chair and a large screen for his viewing selection – he sat back to watch the events played out before him and soon wished he hadn't. "Good god, please tell me she isn't doing what I think she is with that – that freak – _ew._"

"Rest assured, it wasn't my choice." Kotori, not much different in appearance than from when she'd left for Hidden Sound, appeared in Taiki's vision and perched next to him. "And you think you have it bad. It's like a bad pay-per-view porno flick that you can't turn off; I have to watch every second and can't do a damn thing to stop it." She flinched suddenly at some unseen sensation, looked visibly ill and muttered, "The worst part is, even though I'm not in control, I feel every part of it. Just be glad you don't share your body."

"You forget, I do." Taiki made the mistake of looking back up at the screen at the wrong moment and was almost ill himself. "Vulgar display, indeed..."

A third presence manifested itself as if on command, plopping down on Taiki's other side and watching the screen with avid interest. "Oooo, now that's just hot," commented Goubatsu, taking in every detail of perceived events with a wide grin. He sideglanced the vision-Kotori and asked, "So that's you in real life?"

Kotori made a face and nodded. "Unfortunately, yes."

The Mist jounin could only grin wider as he considered Kotori with a newfound appreciation. "Damn, I wish I weren't dead."

-------

_**Author's note:**__ If this last part made you slightly queasy, don't worry – you aren't the only one. But that's the way things happened, and be glad there aren't any further details. (If you want them, just fill in the blanks and keep it to yourself. There are places even I won't go.) Moving right along..._


End file.
